• Darkness - Difficulty - Loss - This really happened. - Travelling

    The birkenau.

    October 16, 2016 - By 

    Last month I had the privilege of going to Berlin.  It was my first time there.  Although I was still walking with my cane (aka The Wooden Leg Named Smith), I took advantage of an opportunity for a (five-hour!) walking tour to learn about Berlin’s history. Here is one story I learned. We were in the cafe courtyard of an art museum — and there we saw two modestly-sized fenced areas.   Planted within those two enclosures were bunches of birch-tree saplings.   Here was an art installation…of birch saplings. During World War II, around 1940, the Nazi leadership realized…

  • Blessings - Safety - This really happened.

    My Uber driver kissed me and it wasn’t even creepy.

    May 15, 2016 - By 

    I wasn’t looking for drama.   I really wasn’t. But that morning they left me at the table, reading the paper.  I finished the puzzle. I did the Jumble.   Took me almost no time at all. It was a good day. I pushed away from the table and stood up, putting all my weight on my right foot — not realizing that I could not feel it and that my foot had dropped….and stepped onto the top surface of my foot, upside down.    I heard a crack. I screamed. I threw myself onto the couch, elevating my foot.…

  • Light

    The F Word

    March 4, 2016 - By 

    Years ago, I thought that motherhood would mean long afternoons having picnics, gazing at the shapes of clouds with my children and daydreaming.   Then at night, I though we would go outside in our pajamas, hold hands and gaze up at the magic of the stars. I have since discovered, and as you probably already know, it’s a bit more complicated than that. There are scientists who say that we are made of stardust.   The selfsame stuff that makes up stars composes our cells, our bones and our very breath.   All that has ever shone – all that has been…

  • Being Human - For fun. - This really happened.

    Tea, Karma and Paying It Forward

    March 4, 2016 - By 

    This week for my birthday I wanted to do something special… for someone else. I figured, eh, why not…?  I didn’t really need a treat so I thought I would treat someone else.   Now recently I haven’t gone to any coffee or tea houses — I have been choosing, instead, to have all my drinks from home.     Breaking a habit, you might say. But….for the first time since the beginning of the year I had to pick up tea in a disposable cup — and I stopped at SB….in the drive-thru lane. I ordered one Venti Emperor’s…

  • Being Human

    The Vacuum

    September 17, 2015 - By 

    Even after it stopped working, it sat in the garage for a long time, languishing.   Originally I was attracted to the design, the superior suction.   I was seduced by the yellow, the shiny – the fact that I could take it apart and put it together like any building toy – and reassemble it for a different function. I thought it would be eternal. Like Legos.   That it would constantly reinvent itself. Again, like Legos. In its prime, it could make any rug look new, could attract all matter of dust and detris in a matter so satisfactory that it…

  • Being Human - Difficulty - Light

    Arms Akimbo

    June 9, 2015 - By 

    Today I was Wonder Woman. I woke up early and stood, arms akimbo, fists on my hips, next to my bed. My chest was out, my chin was up.  I was ready. I went to the grocery store.  I bought a cantaloupe and some rhubarb. Success. Best day of the week, so far. Last night L told me the story of a woman whose life presented such significant challenges that in order to keep up her own spirits she would adopt the Wonder Woman stance, fists on her hips, chest out, chin up and arms akimbo — before she proceeded…

  • Blessings - Childhood - Family - Hope - Light - Loss - Safety

    The Gathering and The Safety of the Burrito

    May 9, 2015 - By 

    I woke to a dream where I was on the street in twilight. With my little child.   A son or a daughter, perhaps. The sky was losing light. The day had been long. It was much too late to be out with such a baby – it was time to be home. But this one had their arms up in the air and was crying, “book, book”. “up, up.” We were outside the library. Its doors closed to the day. “Book, book”. They cried. There was the memory and allure of story time – a part of a perfect morning…

  • Being Human - For fun. - Travelling

    The Short Blocks

    May 8, 2015 - By 

    I am in a place where we count short blocks and long blocks.   Yesterday we went from 74th to 31st – it took no time at all because it was short blocks. I love the short blocks!   Two buildings – three, maybe.   A few doorways – lickety-split – you are on the next street!   I can make a lot of ground by the short blocks. I can really get somewhere.   I can get somewhere – faster. But ahhhh…there is definitely some charm to the long blocks. On a long block you and walk and walk and walk along tree-lined parkways,…

  • Being Human - Blessings - For fun. - Hope - This really happened.

    On inspiration’s expiration’s inspiration.

    May 5, 2015 - By 

      I recently read a piece from Maya Angelou: she said that although she had a large house, she retained a hotel room in town.   On the desk of the room she had only a deck of cards, crossword puzzles and a pad of paper—and a pen.   She would take herself out of her comfort and her distractions and would sit and pretend to play solitaire – to trick herself into writing. Reading this was an enormous comfort to me. Here I am thinking that once I stake my flag in the sand saying that I will always be brilliant…

  • Uncategorized

    Stuff some folks say.

    May 1, 2015 - By 

    “In poetic images, with humor, and a deep sense of spirituality, Leslie Coff ‘s writing creates a new way of seeing, the precision of her narrative brush strokes sketching out unseen possibilities along life’s path.Her work reminds us that although the journey to the ideal might be a long one, we have the necessary strength inside ourselves to sustain the walk. An enlivening, debut collection on faith and inspiration; the beauty of the prose not to be missed.” — Melissa Falcon Field, author of What Burns Away (Sourcebooks 2015) Thoughtfully worked out and shows a sensitive understanding of life… — Harold Kushner,…

  • Being Human - Blessings - Darkness - Difficulty - Hope - Light - Safety - This really happened. - Travelling

    The Lost Mariners and Almost Missing Maui

    April 26, 2015 - By 

    I heard the most amazing story. There was a cruise ship – and a Greek captain – and two mariners. And some passengers. But I think the star of this story is a thing that is not on any map. More on that later. There is a cruise ship – and it is sailing North towards Hawaii. One morning one passenger gets up early, as he loves to do on these trips. He gets up at five – and consults the map.   He finds that the ship is not headed North at all. It has done an about-face…..it is heading South.…

  • Being Human - Fear - Light - Loss

    We Breathe Out Stars

    February 5, 2015 - By 

    The first time I saw Cirque du Soleil was in Los Angeles, 1987. When the first notes of the clarinet began and the lights came up, the performers were wearing masks of lovely ancient people with innocent faces, reddened noses, jowls, double chins and glasses. They had exaggerated bellies and bottoms–and waddled about doing what ordinary people do: riding their broken shaky bicycles, struggling under sacks of potatoes; collecting milk and bread . . .and breath. They were modest, sad, hardworking and beautiful. Awkward, ugly, shattered by life and yet still walking forward. I was so moved by their broken…