"Trove" Gold Ring Giveaway
"Trove" Gold Ring Giveaway Thirty-four summers ago, I found this 14k gold ring with four tiny rhinestones in the port of Hydra. I was in an outdoor café drinking sludgy Greek coffee when the ring glistened up at me from the ground. I took it to the closest jewelry shop and asked what it was worth.…
Alchemy and Other Acts of Transformation
A trove full of treasures waiting to be transformed. Five years ago, just as I’d finished the first draft of my memoir, Trove: A Woman’s Search for Truth and Buried Treasure, I decided to become an alchemist. I actually wanted to practice the ancient art of transforming base metals into gold with…
Join Me on the Trove Treasure Hunt
A book about a treasure hunt inspires a treasure hunt. My friend David taught me that if you want to set up a treasure hunt, you start by deciding where you’re going to hide the treasure, and then you work backwards. Basically, you can’t put a clue structure in place without knowing where the prize…
Otis's Guide to Living Like a Pig
With our swine-tacular pal Otis staying with us, it really is the Year of the Pig around here, and I have learned quite a few things from this little guy. In fact, I would be remiss not to share some of the wisdom Otis has already imparted in our time together. So here it is, Otis’s Guide to…
Why 2017 Sucked for Women and 2018 Doesn't
A woman president. That was my big ask in 2016. And, honestly, was it really that big? In 229 years of choosing presidents, could the people of the United States (who’ve elected some pretty craptacular men along the way), finally put one female in the Oval Office? And truthfully, I didn’t…
Night Math: Reckoning with Insomnia
The morning after being up all night. Test your knowledge with these seven problems. No need to show your work; I’m too tired to understand it anyway. Although it’s lights out for Sandra at 11 p.m., it takes her 46 minutes to fall asleep. She then wakes up five times over the course of the night…
19 Reasons to Embrace Middle Age
photo by Sandra A. Miller Welcome to the top of the arc! You’ve travelled a long, meandering path to get to this moment, and, trust me, it offers quite the vantage point of where you’ve come from, and the ever-lessening distance you have yet to go. While you’re catching your breath, it’s also a…
Dragging My Feet Trying to Slow the Circles Down
Phinny is still in bed. I have no idea how late he was up hanging with friends for the last time in the easy shelter of their high school lives, but today this close-knit group will continue dispersing to faraway cities and states. Baltimore, San Diego, Montreal, Maine. We are taking Phinny to…
Some Love for the Bald Women Going Through Hell
Sisters share a pretzel and some love When I saw the subject line “Haircut” my lips and eyes did that thing when they tighten to try and keep the feelings from just pouring out. I clicked on the email from my one-year-older sister Betsy, and it was all over. Feelings everywhere. One and a half…
Star Stung: Lessons Learned from a Night with Sting
Hanging with Sting circa 2005 at the Hiro Ballroom “Congratulations. You’re one of our winners,” the young woman coolly announced in a call that I had almost ignored from the comfort of my couch cocoon. “We'll be in touch with details before the red carpet premiere in New York City,” she said, “but…