I have long said that May is the prettiest month here, and 2013 is no exception.


My 6 white dogwood are in bloom now. This one is just outside my office window. In fact, I leaned out the window from inside to snap it! There is something so ethereal about dogwood flowers...maybe because the trunk of the tree is so slender that it often appears to me as if the flowers are floating, suspended in the air.


This is the view south. Most of what you see here, actually, is my neighbor's property. There's a stone wall that divides our property but it's pretty much shrouded in green already. AT the very bottom of the photo you can see a sliver of my driveway. I also shot this out my office window. The view is made possible due to the fact that a humongous white pine that previously blocked part of this view came down during Hurricane Sandy. (I'm still cleaning up the remnant logs from that.)

I got an email today from an address I didn't recognize, yet this person seemed to know a fair amount about me. But the email wasn't signed. It was a job offer. I was pretty wary about it until I checked the phone number from NYC online and realized it was a friend of mine, a fellow writer and someone I worked very closely with for 2 years at my last full-time job.

He was laid off a year before me and eventually found new work as a recruiter. He's very much a people person and a really great, all-round guy. Truth be told, we flirted a fair amount and I dare say if he weren't married...

Rest assured, nothing happened beyond friendly conversation. We shared identical jobs and sat next to each other, so of course we talked a lot. Sometimes, we even escaped the office and took a half-hour drive without telling anyone! He was very unhappy there, I think partly because he always struggled as a writer and I don't think that's his natural vocation.

Anyway, we lost touch during the past few years, but he was reaching out to me now with a contract job that could turn f/t. I think it's f/t and he said it would "only" pay $35/hr. I sent him my resume and some links to writing samples and he was very enthusiastic about it, saying he "had a good feeling" about it. I personally think it's a long shot becus the job (writing) is in a field I have no experience in: retail, modern furniture and accessories. However, I have done a lot of copywriting about high end real estate and design/construction trends, so who knows. The other problem is that it would be a very long drive, over an hour, and that's what most concerns me.

However, at this point, I may just go for it, even if I don't stay forever. Maybe I could just stick it out for a year or two. I need to get out of this financial rut I've been in. There's always the possibility of a partial work-at-home deal.

So guess we'll see if I get any feedback early next week. I'm afraid to even dwell on it too much becus as I said, I don't feel I'd be the very best candidate they could likely find for this particular job.

On Tuesday I will be working 5:15 am to 8 pm as a poll worker. $175 cash for a very long day, but I do also enjoy seeing all my fellow townspeople file in to cast their vote on the town budget. It's old-fashioned New England politics which I am so very familiar with. For years I covered things like this as a news reporter. I guess I know a fair number of people here in town, even though it usually seems like I don't.

I just finished planning the Mother's Day menu, which will be here at my house. Just a lunch, not dinner. My sister will bring a salad and dessert, while I've decided on an appetizer of pear slices dipped in a mix of cheddar cheese/butter/lemon juice and then finely ground pecans. The main course will be creamy cheddar-cauliflower soup and a cold salad consisting of corn, black beans, grape tomatoes and edamame beans with a dressing. I'll make an easy dessert, too, a real chocolate pudding using dried cocoa, almond milk and bittersweet chips.