Gather ’round, kiddies. It’s story time with Grannie B. But first, I will pour a little something in my glass to wet my whistle. Not a real whistle. It’s a figure of speech that means Grannie B is thirsty. And yes, her drink would be nicer with a cherry. Ah…now where was I? Oh, right,… Continue Reading… Continue Reading
Author Archives: Risa Nye
Numbers
I wrote this in March, 2015. Before… The lobby smells like tragedy and sickness today. I look around to see if there are any signs of an accident of a personal nature—orange cones, a bucket and mop, yellow tape—but there is no sign of such a thing. The uniformed guy behind the desk doesn’t… Continue Reading
A tribute to B.B. King
This is a piece I wrote for Nancy Davis Kho’s blog, Midlife Mixtape a couple of years ago. She asked a few writer friends to weigh in on a record that we love, still in rotation after many years and changing tastes. I was fortunate to see B.B. King several times, and love hearing him… Continue Reading
When you need to crowdsource mothering
In the days leading up to Mother’s Day, I’ve noticed some people had written lovely tributes to their moms, while others state that they will be staying away from reading such things because their own memories are different or painful. Today, Mother’s Day 2015, I would like to take a moment to thank those women… Continue Reading
My Passover Seder Memories: Not the long version
The Passover Seder is a highly ritualized family event, during which children must wait patiently to eat dinner until the last plague is listed, the last bite of horseradish is choked down, the last prayer is read, and the last song is sung. Depending on how hard core the leader of the Seder service… Continue Reading
Bunny Cakes and Other Sorrows
My sister’s birthday is in April. When we were little, our mother used to make her a bunny cake for her birthday parties. Being two and a half years younger, I was always on the sidelines at those parties, but I wasn’t alone. I had what my mother used to call “the green-eyed monster” for… Continue Reading… Continue Reading
Memories of The Full House
As the phrase goes, “there is no there there.” And as every Oaklander knows, Gertrude Stein’s famous reference to the loss of her childhood home and the discovery that the city of Oakland had changed dramatically during the years she lived abroad (and more about that here in an excellent piece by Matt Werner), is… Continue Reading
Kids and Books: #World Book Day
Just kids reading (or being read to)
The Wonder of Bread
The aroma of baking bread is so universally appealing that an appreciation for it is probably hardwired into our DNA. One good sniff of that warm bread smell and we are transported to childhood…a cozy kitchen, or perhaps a trip to the local bakery, where golden brown loaves were laid out shoulder to shoulder on… Continue Reading
So You Think You Can Knit
Well, you’ve come to the right place. I’m practically an expert. Why, by the time I graduated from high school, I had learned four new languages: Spanish, French, Italian, and Knitting. I remember rien from French, next to nada in Spanish and almost niente in Italian—but luckily for you, the only language I’m still… Continue Reading