Author Archives: Mrs. Fitz

Pretending is something we do. Children are particularly good at it. Novelists do it for a living. Some folks make up pretend people, avatars, to play a pretend game. We may dress in such a way, talk in such a … Continue reading →

Recent purchase of a cherry red transistor radio was not nostalgic. Its appeal was a slit on its side into which a thumb drive can be inserted for the listening pleasure of family music captured on that thumb drive. It’s … Continue reading →

My language skill set consists of English. I hear evocative sounds in other languages but don’t comprehend their meaning. This is why I can’t remember the name of my neighbor’s dog, who is about four years old now. I have … Continue reading →

Preschool children get grownup attention for things they should be doing, according to grownups: grow at a certain rate, socialize or walk or use the potty at a certain age, go to bed at reasonable hours. They receive less attention … Continue reading →

Sales at the 85-year-old Danish LEGO Company recently dipped 5%. Some folks conjecture children now prefer video-digital-electronic anything rather than  individual blocks that offer freedom to make whatever it is they wish to make. It is possible the company now … Continue reading →

A food store recently opened in our Chicago neighborhood. Happy news for those of us who like to eat. It is clean, well stocked and brightly lit. And much much more. Every aspect of food consumption apparently has been analyzed … Continue reading →

The playground in our Chicago neighborhood is generally populated by three-year=olds whose primary similarity is height, about 27 inches. Their names suggest imaginative growups to come. Lemon, Jersey, Atticus, Sparkle, Nimrod, Aspen sound like folks interesting to know. Their colorful … Continue reading →

House hunting is more avaricious than it was during the times my husband and I bought and sold our homes, the last experience about a decade ago. Now uncluttered, neutral, staged houses define “move-in ready.” We bought places that had … Continue reading →

There are many reasons folks don’t write. Lack of talent isn’t one of them. UN-writing is. Writers share lessons about PRE-writing, RE-writing, FREE-writing and those are interesting; but UN-writing is tedious, a bit like unraveling a sweater. It is boring … Continue reading →

The 1950s ranch home that witnessed the growing up of my two brothers and I was an open concept design decades before the term defined what a house should be. The living room was for playing the piano or listening … Continue reading →