Author Archives: janishaag

Jan Haag (after W.S. Merwin) You caregivers hand-holders hospice people, people who comfort You cooks chefs servers sandwich makers pizza tossers, who feed us You delivery people truck loaders postal workers sorters drivers, people who bring us things You doctors … Continue reading →

I have cut this man’s hair for years… decades, actually… and just because I’ve got the sniffles (allergies? cold? something we don’t want to think about?) doesn’t mean I can’t take up scissors and comb in my backyard for the … Continue reading →

First day of spring I step onto the front porch to greet the stranger who has come to retrieve my old sofa. Free, I’d said on social media, resisting the urge to add, to a good home. When I ask … Continue reading →

(For Dick) Go ahead—it’s the one day in four years when we can, the extra day tacked on to February when seemingly impossible things are possible: when ladies can propose to gentlemen, when any man who refuses her must buy … Continue reading →

for Dickie I watched you walk through windward-leaning cypress, head toward the edge of a seacliff into the light, a familiar silhouette angling away from me, the long shadow of life extending behind you, and I thought again, no, not … Continue reading →

We are delighted to spend Presidents’ Day weekend at The Sea Ranch, as we do most years. Last year, of course, Dick was recuperating in Honolulu after his cardiac arrest and subsequent triple bypass surgery. He spent his 76th birthday … Continue reading →

Every year on January 30 I smile at the notion that I have gained a half a year, remembering when I lorded those six months over my sister, felt superior to younger classmates, looked eagerly toward gaining the next digit … Continue reading →

Oh, my. What a sweet gift arrived from our friends at the AED Institute today. We were so moved by this 2:25-minute video assembled by the Hawaiian Airlines corporate communications team. They met us at the Honolulu airport to greet … Continue reading →

Part II It’s not unusual for us, despite our great love for Hawaii, to look forward to coming home after a couple of weeks’ vacation there. There’s something about returning to one’s own abode, own bed, own kitties that tugs … Continue reading →

  Part I I’m a big fan of the poet Jane Kenyon, whose last book of poems, published after her death in 1995, was called “Otherwise.” Knowing that she was dying of leukemia, she assembled the collection with her husband, … Continue reading →