Many of us who have gone to public school in New England are forever stuck with the idea that summer is supposed to be a time of freedom and fun. In an effort to add some fun and freedom to my summer despite long ago leaving school, I decided to fill a small sketchbook this summer. The rules are simple. I have to not care about how it comes out. All paper is cheap, considering that it is grown in trees and shipped across oceans, but sketchbook paper is considerably cheaper than good...

We have had too much death recently. Each death takes a considerable amount of dealing with and when they stack up on each other, another one coming before the worst edge is off the last one, life gets overwhelming. We have had four with a fifth in the offing. Painting helps, but some days, just focusing on doing the dishes and walking the dog helps more. Nancy Gorman

It was a short one, but had more impact than the longer one earlier this winter. The long one lasted a few days and brought more snow, but my husband wasn't stuck in Florida for that one. Having cancelled his trip to visit his mother during the first blizzard, he didn't want to upset her by cancelling for a blizzard again. She's 96. So he brought in a pile of wood for me, made sure I remembered how to use the battery pack we'd retrieved from the boat for the first blizzard, and left. His...