The text from my friend Tracey asked simply: “Is Doug in Boston?” For the past two years, my husband has run the country’s oldest, greatest marathon – but not today. I texted back a simple ‘no’. When she responded, “Good year to miss”, I asked why and then quickly thought to check Google News. I heard from several family members and friends over the course of the next two hours, wondering if the husband was running. Again, he wasn’t. So when I subsequently contemplated how best to approach … [Read more...]
Parenting, pride, and a letter from Miss T
There are two parts to this post. I wrote the following yesterday: The husband ran the Boston Marathon this morning. Before the start, he sent me a photo of himself, smiling in the bright sunshine, surrounded by scantily-clad runners. I shared the picture with the girls, silently eating their toast. Miss T wanted to know where he got the lime green shirt he was wearing. Bun Bun managed a smile. Goldie, had she actually spoken, would’ve said ‘feh’. To be fair, he’s run more than 25 … [Read more...]
Today’s cup: Standard and Poor, Grete Waitz, Fidel Castro and the Pulitzers
Things aren’t going well in Libya. The rebels are struggling to hang on to Misrata as forces loyal to Moammar Qadafi continue bombarding them with lethal force. NATO is trying to help but let’s face facts. A coherent plan was never put in place. Helping a ragtag army with no clear leader, even under the guise of preventing the slaughter of innocents, is not a strategy. It’s an idea, and it’s not working. Across the Mediterranean in Syria (sort of), the situation is about the same. No … [Read more...]
Today’s cup: tornadoes, tax day, and Halliburton is flush
The death toll after severe weather ripped through the Midwest and South has risen to 45, with North Carolina absorbing more than half of that number. Over 100 tornadoes have been reported since Thursday, when the first of the twisters touched down in Oklahoma. As rescue workers sift through the rubble in Virginia and hard-hit areas surrounding Raleigh, the number of casualties is likely to rise. Despite President Bashar al-Assad’s promise to lift a state of emergency after 50 years, Syrians … [Read more...]