I am living in a third-floor walkup on the west side of Manchester. It’s small, but it’s got three bedrooms and the kids stay with me about three nights a week. The boys share one of the extra bedrooms, the girls the other, though the little one usually ends up climbing into bed with me […]
Once upon a time we lived in a little cottage in a small city in the far northeast and on winter nights while the fire burned, our mother read us bedtime stories and we heard the thunk-scrape of the shovel as our father built the snowbanks higher than our heads clearing the driveway again.
There is a little moment when I drop the kids off at school each morning that simultaneously makes me smile and breaks my heart a little. The two older kids pile out of the, anxious to be gone, tolerating only the briefest goodbye peck on their foreheads, not even turning to look back as they […]
All right, firstly, the kids and I like to watch River Monsters together. So kudos to Jeremy Wade for making a globe-trotting fishing show with enough storyline and drama to have broad cross-generational appeal. And for having the coolest job in the world. Now to stick it in his ribs a bit. I couldn’t help […]
Happy Thanksgiving, all! Grateful for health, family and community! All of which were in evidence this morning. Kristen, David and I ran Millennium Running’s Fisher Cats Thanksgiving Day 5K starting at the Fisher Cats stadium and running down through the Millyard. It was a fast course and a perfect day to run, blue sky, windless and […]
David finished the USATF New England Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships meet at Freestyle Farm in Amherst with a better than 1 minute improvement and PB on his 3K time, and even more importantly, big smiles with his friends! While David doesn’t move on to regionals, I’m looking forward to seeing how the Granite State […]
My mother posted this on Facebook today – a scan of a letter showing the decorations my Grandfather Ernest earned in WW2. Thinking of him this Memorial Day. Mom wrote: “Gladys Phillips, his mother and my grandmother, made these notes about medals earned by Ernest Edward Phillips in World War II in the Philippines.”
Ran the Twin Lights Half Marathon on Saturday morning, and while it was hillier than I expected, and I missed my per-mile-pace goal (6:30), I was pretty happy with a 54 second PR and 7th place overall finish, 1st in division. First note? Free pictures! All the pics the race photogs take are available for […]
Beloved family and friends, As I sat down to begin penning this 2011 Burden Family Christmas missive, I was struck by a single, clear, profound thought: “Dear heavens, there is not enough single malt Scotch in the whole state of New Hampshire to get me through this task.” Regardless, let us soldier on and see […]