The French have an expression, “bête noire,” that comes easily to me when I’m talking about a special fear of mine when I was young. The word “fear” takes on a deeper, more sinister meaning when I use bête noire…
Nora’s Corner
Flying Kangaroos and Penguins
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
After a three-hour delay at BWI Airport and a six-hour flight across the continental USA, our plane finally touched down in Los Angeles. We were tired and eager to deplane. But the pilot announced over the intercom that air traffic…
Rare Treats — Toy Theaters
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
The young audience is seated on the floor, mesmerized by a row of Christmas tree lights that replicate footlights beneath a miniature stage. Two adults (the puppeteers) are seated on either side of what is called a “penny theater.” As…
Riding the Rails Home for the Holidays
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
I’m sorry to say that my experience on Amtrak just isn’t the same as the B&O and the Frisco trains were when I used to take them in the late l940s and early ‘50s. Part of my pleasure of being…
Wings of Wonder
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
Just beyond my patio garden there is an abelia bush that is bursting with pale pink blossoms. This year it is especially eye-catching because of a host of yellow and black swallowtail butterflies that flutter, dip for a moment into…
Being Dr. Stonestreet
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
In appearance, Clarence Hickey in no way resembles the historic personage he reenacts — the legendary 19th century physician Dr. Edward E. Stonestreet of Rockville, Md. The famous doctor had mutton chop whiskers, a receding hairline and a serious gaze.…
The Fourth of July at Half-A-Hill
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
It was July 4, 1935, in southwestern Missouri. The restaurant/nightclub my parents owned, called Half-A-Hill, was five miles south of Springfield, “the heart of the Ozarks.” Motorists heading toward Branson, Mo., (in those days, it was a tiny center for…
Small Blessings
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
I became intrigued the moment I heard about small dresses made from pillowcases, sent as gifts for little girls in Third World countries. I obtained a few color photos of the dresses from Jessica Disney, a volunteer for this church-sponsored…
Honors Long Overdue
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
I’ve only met a few “living legends” during my life. William T. Fauntroy Jr., one of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen and a Congressional Gold Medal of Honor recipient, is one of them. Consequently, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to hear…
Growing up Victorian
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
Each April I’m reminded of three events: Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and two family birthdays — my second grandson’s and my mother’s. Though I think of Walt Whitman’s “When lilacs last in the dooryard bloomed …” and the sorrow that poem…