Jane’s Essays
I write essays, because, you know, I’m a writer.
Of course, you know that, unless you thought you were at another page by someone else who does something else. If that’s true, this isn’t about me, it’s about you.
Spooky Action at a Distance*
Like many dreamers, I want to embrace spooky action at a distance. I’m also pragmatic and tend to poopoo too much cosmic debris, as the late great Frank Zappa might describe it. I may have my head in the clouds, but my feet are firmly planted on the Cozy Toes heater...
Only This
There was a yoga class in my living room this morning. There is one there every morning. Ever since the beginning of pandemic life, six to twenty yoga students fill the screen in front of my husband in the living room. I took the class on mute from my office all the...
The Drone
The drone scares the dog. He is a ten-year-old pit bull/lab mix who has recently become an emotional support animal for the yoga teacher training I co-teach at the university. Already wary of birds—probably due to the great chicken massacre he may have witnessed a few...
Determination
Determination is a quality I usually ascribe to crocuses. There is no greater example of it at winter’s end than their delicate, willful heads breaking through the snow’s crusty surface. In May, determination belongs to the Canada geese, flying under cover of darkness...
The Blush of Youth
One-hundred-fifty-six years ago today, Abraham Lincoln was struck down in the blush of youth. Honest Abe was not a babe, he was 56. His presidency was in the blush of its youth. I am older now than he was when he went to the theatre. It is amazing for me to imagine...
Where Secrets go to Die
The Spa Nordic in Montréal is where secrets go to die. The woman on the porch in the snow, her bikini under her fur coat, is smoking a cigarette. She’s done the hot soak and may even plunge her wrinkled middle-aged body into the cold pool for its healthful benefits...
Julia Child
I remember watching Julia Child on television on a black-and-white set. I loved everything about her. Her height, her apron, her accent, her bubbly personality, her spunk, the way she poured wine into the sauce and into her glass. You name it, if it was Julia Child, I...
The Pursuit of Truth
If my dharma were the pursuit of truth, I’d not be here tapping these keys right now. I’d have never left welding, where everything is black and white. Well, it’s really black and silver or sometimes black and copper; there are no grey areas. A weld is either a good...
The Day After the Insurrection
More information continues to emerge about the events of Wednesday. They point to a broader conspiracy than it first appeared. Calls for Trump’s removal from office are growing. The Republican Party is tearing apart. Power in the nation is shifting almost by the...
Mysterious Happenings
EDM stands for electronic dance music. Personally and historically, I am and have been a baroque music fan, but some nights call for EDM. Saturday was such a night – Elvis is singing “Such a Night, ooh what a night it was, it really was,’’ in my head right now which...