Dec 14, 2021I’m Your College Stats Professor. How Do You Like Me Now?COVID has changed you, my former student. You passed my class — Statistics 101 — with a respectable B-minus average. Not stellar, but nothing to prompt your parents to cut off your credit card. Maybe all you needed was a global pandemic to put my statistical wisdom to good use…Humor4 min read
Nov 30, 2020Over Rivers, Through Woods and Beyond: A Thanksgiving TributeThis year’s Thanksgiving was unimaginably different from those that came before, and trips to grandparents’ houses were generally off-limits. With gratitude for all that we do have and optimism for next year’s holiday season, I thought I’d share this piece I wrote years ago on a more typical Thanksgiving. …Family4 min read
Nov 23, 2020Eau De Twenty20This piece was first published in Little Old Lady Comedy. For more fun, visit their site at littleoldladycomedy.com. Eau de Twenty20 is an earthy, outdoorsy fragrance with bursts of hygienic notes enveloped by undertones of conflict, natural disaster and comfort food. …Fragrances2 min read
Published in Rye In Our Time·Oct 11, 2020Covid Living: Fall 2020Covid Living: Fall 2020 by Paula Fung Little House on the Prairie was my favorite TV show when I was a kid. I absorbed the lessons, intentional or not, of community, faith, marriage, sibling rivalry, and what you might have to do if you had a raging infection in the…Family4 min read
Published in New York Voice·Sep 7, 2020Leaving New York and Reflections on 9/11I started this essay last September with a strong feeling that after eighteen years, it was time to put these stories — my story — into words. In the context of Covid-19, our relationship with New York City and the definition of tragedy is changing once again. I decided not…September 1113 min read
Published in Rye In Our Time·Apr 26, 2020Trioby Amy Vijayanagar For 3 days she had amassed and arranged Grass and twigs and mud Into an elaborate life-giving lattice Atop the porch lamp cozy The way nature in threes Calculated triangulations, pieces bending though balanced Three hundred fibers woven just so The Mama Robin knows What matters, solid…Earth Day1 min read
Published in Rye In Our Time·Apr 21, 2020Keeping the FaithWith little understanding of the boundaries between culture, religion and playing dress-up, my youngest child Ian seemed to grasp at a young age that we were a religious blank slate of a family. Not entirely, as I was raised vaguely Christian with a healthy thread of agnosticism. My husband Rich…Childhood5 min read
Published in Rye In Our Time·Apr 8, 2020Living Through A Pandemic — When the Real is Surrealby Aviva Kamandar Veggie bags, scaly hands, itchy faces, and fear Last week driving through town, it looked a lot like 7am on Thanksgiving, the roads eerily quiet and empty until arriving at the jam-packed supermarket parking lot. Along the way, I start to notice some tightness around my chest, slight…Mindfulness6 min read
Published in Rye In Our Time·Apr 1, 2020My Mother’s Scissorsby Kristin Jautz There is a massive pile of fabric on my dining room table. A kind of pale teal, with hugging panda bears and little cupids shooting arrows with hearts; cheesy and still somehow cute, the type you imagine would be turned into scrubs for nurses in children’s hospitals…Sewing4 min read
Published in Rye In Our Time·Mar 30, 2020Future Covid-19 Apologizesby Audrey Fung “Hi, my name is Covid.” I said, sweat dripping down my body. “Hi Covid.” They said back at me in unison. I smile nervously, but proudly, and say, “Today, I am 100 years sober.” They all clap, and I sit back down. The virus sitting next to…Coronavirus3 min read