Moving and Retirement
Diane Girard Writes: Rereading Books for Pleasure and Solace
Diane Girard Writes: I return to some of my favorite books these days for fun and for comfort. And, as the pandemic has shown me, reading printed books gives me a break from peering at words and images online. For contrast and with no obvious morals tucked into the story, I sometimes reread H.E. Bates’, A Little of What You Fancy. The Larkins are, as the cover of my 1979 edition notes, ‘thirsty, hungry, lusty, happy, irrepressible — immortal’. Bates wrote several books about the Larkins and there was a TV series called ‘The Darling Buds of May.’ The stories are set in the English countryside and Pop Larkin’s motto is the more the merrier, which also applies to his amorous activities. If income tax evasion, opposition to the tunnel under the English Channel, a lot of tippling, and women expressing healthy sexual appetites distress you, I suggest you don’t read the book. more »
Kristin Nord Writes: My Mother As a Young Widow Restarted Her Life Again in Midlife; I Began to Follow in Her Footsteps
Kristin Nord Writes: As a young widow of means my mother would restart her life again in midlife, packing up the contents of her house this time and relocating from Grosse Pointe to Bucks County, PA. I suspect she must have decided early on — as someone who had not suffered during The Great Depression — that she would volunteer rather than engage in a career for money. Yet she did so nonetheless for a rather astonishing 40 years at the little library in New Hope, PA. Some of the choices my mother and mother-in-law made were dictated by circumstance, but they came at a time when they might still have been discouraged from truly pursuing careers of their own. more »
Jane's Shortall's Amazing Return to London ... ‘Putting the Luxe in Luxury’
Lucky I had booked a long stay in London in September 2019, given how the world changed in early 2020. One the greatest cities on earth, it has held my heart for almost fifty years ... The flat I rented near the Tower of London, was just around the corner from the Minories, a famous pub that welcomes a diverse group of people. Waiting on the bus to Trafalgar Square, a vision, well over six foot tall and built like a lumberjack, with a head of red curly hair flying in the wind, came marching towards me. A whirl of colour passed me by in a wild apple green frilly dress, white platform boots, a red handbag festooned with silver and gold objects, held in a big hand, and bright blue eyelids, many pairs of eyelashes and scarlet lips like the late comedian, Joan Rivers. Like London itself, I love the Tower. Entering the gate I get a sort of frisson, and this time was no different. On a private visit, in a part of the Tower closed to the public, as dusk fell I saw the Raven Master settling the birds in for the night. more »
Have You Received Your Stimulus Check? The IRS: When We’ll Send Your Third Payment & Face Masks and Other Personal Protective Equipment to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 Are Tax Deductible
IRS website: "When We’ll Send Your Third Payment: The third round of Economic Impact Payments are being sent in phases. The IRS started sending the first batch of payments with an official payment date of March 17. If you haven’t received one yet, it doesn’t mean you won’t. We’ll send the third payments each week to eligible individuals as we continue to process tax returns. Payments are sent by direct deposit or mail as a check or debit card." more »