Spring has sprang and 1/2 of the Ditmarstons have been vaccinated—Calvin (shot 1 of Pfizer) and me (J&J, so all done). Daisy will get her first shot next Monday. Yesterday just after lunch, the EMTs rolled up on Maggie; Daisy noticed it out her window and alerted me. I made a half-hearted attempt at communicating… Continue reading Early April small updates

She is not in good shape. I don’t think she has heat or hot water. We are petitioning for a restraining order in state supreme court (which is basically civil court, rather than criminal) and that is putting pressure on her. She has called the police pretending to be me for the last few nights.… Continue reading If I could feel for Maggie, I would

In this particular manic phase of our neighbor Maggie, we have a new list of concerns. Below are mine unless otherwise noted. Are those all of my fears? Well, no, but these will do. Let’s leave it at the durability of the BeeGees and call it a day. *If Maggie has an objection to the… Continue reading Things we worry about, March 2021 edition

She’s gone bonkers again. The cops showed up at our house three times between 3 AM and 4 AM on Thursday morning. On Friday night she began blasting I Heart Radio through our bedroom wall, and she did not turn it off until Sunday morning. At varying times she blasted different music on the first… Continue reading Winter unbends a little, just enough

In a word—snowy. Very snowy. We are in an AirBnB waiting out the week after we flew from NYC to Montrose, Colorado. We went full mask + face shield, or as Calvin puts it, full Covid theater garb. We are in a beautiful house in town and things seem good. No one here wears masks… Continue reading The view from western Colorado

I started writing this post days ago, and it was all about my ennui and despair and self-loathing and (never forget!) loathing of others and our general situation in the city, world, and universe. That is gone. Yes, despair nudges in a little if I loiter on Twitter, but we’re back in wartime Astoria, and… Continue reading Oh, yes, she’s back

As I’ve mentioned before, drinks on the deck is our family’s daily message to Maggie—we are here, we are outside, and you can’t drive us away. Beyond the performative aspect of drinks on the deck, we also enjoy it. This last weekend Calvin had ordered oysters, so we (except Wyatt, who is afraid of bivalves)… Continue reading Flashback to July: The emotional risks of drinks on the deck

I woke up Thursday morning, turned the air conditioner off, and heard 1010 WINS reciting traffic and weather. Maggie’s radio was at full volume. Over the next few days, we would uncover her latest attack, get a better picture of the love interest, and be no closer to discovering the answer to the question: Why… Continue reading Temper, temper, temper—Maggie is no fan of Wendy Ditmarston

Oh wow, it’s autumn. It just crept up like a possum and suddenly we wonder where the sweaters are in the basement. The kids are back at school—back at their computers in such a way that I don’t feel crushing guilt–and cooking in the kitchen is less of a chore. Maggie has been quiet. Her… Continue reading New season, a new platform, and some blockage

Four years back we bought an apple tree from our neighborhood nursery. Verni’s Garden Center. The tree was grafted with no fewer than four branches each growing a different kind of apple. Somehow we thought this was a good idea for an apple tree. But was it? Is it really a good idea to grow… Continue reading We grew this apple