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Crescent Dragonwagon

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J’ADORE BANADORA: TOMATO MEDITATION, SECOND YEAR IN A ROW

J’ADORE BANADORA: TOMATO MEDITATION, SECOND YEAR IN A ROW

By Crescent Dragonwagon 2 Comments

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I’ve written many times about those first tomatoes; the kind, as I said, that “we wait all year for: just cut up in big chunks in a bowl, with a pressed clove of garlic, a whole lot of torn basil, a pinch of sea salt…Some people doll them up: a splash of balsamic vinegar, say, […]

Filed Under: Deep Feast Tagged With: banadora, cilantro, Crescent dragonwagon, Gil Marks, green chile, Olive Trees and Honey, quinoa, recipe, summer food, tomato, tomato salad

NOT EVEN SPRING CAN HURRY GRIEF ALONG

NOT EVEN SPRING CAN HURRY GRIEF ALONG

By Crescent Dragonwagon 2 Comments

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AT A TIME WHEN EVERYTHING ELSE SEEMS TO BE COMING BACK TO LIFE, HOW DO WE GRIEVE? WHAT DO WE DO WHEN, IN THIS SEASON OF RENEWAL, LIFE STILL FEELS LIKE A LIFE-SENTENCE? Easter. Passover. Spring. The days lengthen, grow warm. Everything seems to come back to life. Everything, that is, except the one we loved. […]

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Fearless Living, grief, widowhood Tagged With: grief and holidays, grief and renewal, grieiving in the spring

PLEASE SAY MY BELOVED’S NAME: HOW AND WHY TO TALK ABOUT THE DECEASED

PLEASE SAY MY BELOVED’S NAME: HOW AND WHY TO TALK ABOUT THE DECEASED

By Crescent Dragonwagon 6 Comments

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DON’T BE AFRAID TO SAY ALOUD THE NAME OF THE DECEASED. DON’T BE AFRAID TO REMEMBER HIM OR HER. ALOUD. WITH US. KNOWING YOU LOVED OUR BELOVED TOO HELPS US. IT EVEN, SOMETIMES, BRINGS HER OR HIM BACK TO LIFE,  JUST A LITTLE. THERE CAN BE NO BIGGER GIFT. In last week’s post, Eight Ways to […]

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Fearless Living, grief, widowhood Tagged With: #grief #bereavement

I FEED THIS GUINNESS STOUT CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE TO MY FATHER ONLY IN MY DREAMS

I FEED THIS GUINNESS STOUT CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE TO MY FATHER ONLY IN MY DREAMS

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THIS IS (SHE SAID MODESTLY) AMONG THE BEST CLASSIC CHOCOLATE DESSERTS I EVER CAME UP WITH: A GUINNESS STOUT CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE THAT PULLS OUT ALL THE STOPS. AND CERTAINLY, IT’S PERFECT FOR ST. PATRICK’S DAY, WHICH IS WHEN I’VE OFTEN MADE IT. BUT THE STORY BEHIND IT — WHICH CONCERNS MY ONE-OF-A-KIND FATHER, WHO […]

Filed Under: #DinnerwithDragonwagon, Deep Feast, Maurice Zolotow, self-understanding, personal growth Tagged With: Arkansas, Dairy Hollow House, death, Eureka Springs, fathers and daughters, Fionulla Flanagan, Guinness Stout Chocolate Cake, Irish dessert, Marilyn Monroe, St Patrick's Day dessert, St. Patrick's Day, sudden death

DEAR FRIEND OF THE WIDOW:  FOOLPROOF CONSOLATION, EIGHT WAYS TO HELP THE GRIEVING

DEAR FRIEND OF THE WIDOW: FOOLPROOF CONSOLATION, EIGHT WAYS TO HELP THE GRIEVING

By Crescent Dragonwagon 2 Comments

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OUR FRIENDS WANT TO HELP US. THEY DON’T KNOW HOW. WE DON’T KNOW HOW EITHER. BECAUSE WE ARE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. DEAR WIDOW, I WROTE THIS LETTER FOR YOU TO GIVE YOUR FRIENDS. PART ONE: A LETTER TO THE WIDOW’S FRIENDS Dear Friend of the Widow, You already know this: ___________, the […]

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Fearless Living, grief, self-understanding, personal growth, widowhood Tagged With: condolence, friendship, grief, how to help a widow, sympathy

THE VALENTINES HE DIDN’T KNOW HE SENT

THE VALENTINES HE DIDN’T KNOW HE SENT

By Crescent Dragonwagon 3 Comments

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NOT “FROM THE OTHER WORLD.” NOT “SHE’S SENDING YOU A MESSAGE.” STILL, SOMETIMES SOMETHING YOU DIDN’T FULLY REALIZE YOU HAD BEEN GIVEN MAKES ITSELF KNOWN. Someone must have told me, back in the miasma of grief and unreality that followed Ned’s unexpected death, to call Arkansas Social Security. Told me to ask about “widow’s benefits.” And […]

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Fearless Living, self-understanding, personal growth, widowhood Tagged With: death benefits, Social Security, widow's benefits

SEX AS A DEATH-DEFYING ACT: SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO JUST DIVE IN. SOMETIMES YOU WANT TO. SOMETIMES YOU DON’T.

SEX AS A DEATH-DEFYING ACT: SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO JUST DIVE IN. SOMETIMES YOU WANT TO. SOMETIMES YOU DON’T.

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CAN ANYONE REPLACE HIM, OR HER? OF COURSE NOT. YET… DO I WANT TO DATE AGAIN? IF SO, WHEN? AND HOW? AND SEX…WILL I EVER HAVE SEX AGAIN? DO I WANT TO? SHOULD I WANT TO? AM I TOO OLD? TERRIFYING QUESTIONS. THIS IS THE FIRST WIDOWHOOD WEDNESDAY POST TO EXPLORE THEM. IF YOU ARE […]

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Fearless Living, widowhood Tagged With: late life sexuality, sex, sex after widowhood

WIDOW, WILL YOU DANCE WITH ME? AN INVITATION

WIDOW, WILL YOU DANCE WITH ME? AN INVITATION

By Crescent Dragonwagon 1 Comment

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My dear fellow member of the Club No One Wants to Join, I started Widowhood Wednesday just under a year ago. I was almost seventeen years past my first widowhood, almost three past my second. I was accompanying (to the extent it is possible that another person can accompany another in the freshets of recent […]

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Conversations with Crescent Classes, Crescent Dragonwagon, Events, Fearless Living, self-understanding, personal growth, widowhood Tagged With: community, grief, grieving, the Club No One Wants to Join

CHARLOTTE ZOLOTOW’S “SLEEPY BOOK” AWAKENS IN CHINA

CHARLOTTE ZOLOTOW’S “SLEEPY BOOK” AWAKENS IN CHINA

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A PERSON HAS A LIFE, WITH A DEFINITE AND IRREFUTABLE BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END. BUT, WITH A BOOK IT’S NOT SO CLEAR. I spent a recent Sunday, improbably, working on an introduction to the forthcoming Chinese edition of  a children’s book entitled Sleepy Book. Written in 1956 or ’57 and published in 1958, its author is […]

Filed Under: Books, Charlotte Zolotow, Fearless Writing, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer, Writing Courses Tagged With: children's book illustrations, children's books, literary executor, reissues, Sleepy Book

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I'm a freelance writer (much published), a cornbread-loving, genre-bending sixty something year-old. Writing is work, play, the way I make much of my living. It's occasionally highly anxious-making, always surprising. I teach, and am constantly taught by, writing. Read More…

Rouses Markets Features Crescent’s Ultimate Veggie Burger

Rouses Markets Features Crescent’s Ultimate Veggie Burger

#DeepFeast Recipes

I FEED THIS GUINNESS STOUT CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE TO MY FATHER ONLY IN MY DREAMS
THE *** BEST *** BLACK-EYED PEAS FOR NEW YEAR’S DAY
PUCKER UP, BUTTERNUT: SOULFUL WINTER SQUASH SOUP WITH GINGER-APPLE SALSA
STILL BEANING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
A TIMELESS BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE, RIGHT NOW. AND, INTRODUCING MONK-FRUIT, BEST-EVER ALTERNATIVE TO SUGAR.
J’ADORE BANADORA: TOMATO MEDITATION, SECOND YEAR IN A ROW
COOL HAND CUKE: THAT CUCUMBER-YOGURT SOUP, THE ONE WITH MINT, AND GRAPES, AGAIN…
YET ANOTHER  SECRET REVEALED IN MY FAMOUS “RAISIN-PUMPERNICKEL BREAD WITH A SECRET”

More Posts from this Category

Dinner with Dragonwagon

THE *** BEST *** BLACK-EYED PEAS FOR NEW YEAR’S DAY
PUCKER UP, BUTTERNUT: SOULFUL WINTER SQUASH SOUP WITH GINGER-APPLE SALSA
STILL BEANING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
COOL HAND CUKE: THAT CUCUMBER-YOGURT SOUP, THE ONE WITH MINT, AND GRAPES, AGAIN…

More Posts from this Category

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A NAPPA Gold Winner
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"... like a warm luminescent blanket at bedtime... softly lulling." -- New York Times


"(With) weary animals, Dragonwagon offers an “alphabet of ways to sleep,” smoothly working in some alliteration..."
- Publishers Weekly (starred review)


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