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Archives | Accidental Icon
The Secret Garden Diorama

The Secret Garden Diorama

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden.             My mother has descended another level down the steep staircase that is dementia. These days it is uncertain she knows who I am, yet as...

Ethic of Care

Ethic of Care

Entering the cavernous industrial space situated a block from the Brooklyn waterfront, unlike other fashions shows I’ve attended, I’m greeted by tables groaning with woven baskets filled generously with bread, fresh vegetables, empanadas and a sweet cookie. There are...

Seven Year Itch

Seven Year Itch

Last week the Accidental Icon Project turned seven. I can’t help but think of the term “seven-year itch” because I have one. The term, introduced in 1955 when I was two, came from a film based on a play starring Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell. In keeping with my...

Hurry Up and Slow Down  

Hurry Up and Slow Down  

In recent weeks, I’ve been feeling like the work in our new house has been going so very slow. We are working our way from the outside in, getting the things that require pleasant weather to be done first. So we’re repairing our front stoop and walkway and putting in...

New/Old Summer Hair

New/Old Summer Hair

This post is sponsored by Hair Biology, all thoughts, and opinions are my own.  “The key issue here is that grey hair, natural or otherwise, is like a white blanket; everything shows.” Beth Minardi. This summer my hair is the longest it’s been since I was 40 years...

History Lessons

History Lessons

For all my readers who struggle with letting themselves have something they love I can never settle for accepting something, just as it is. I’m compelled to find out the “history” of it. I can’t seem to embrace or comprehend the person, place or thing unless I do. I...

The Person You Always Should Have Been

The Person You Always Should Have Been

I always come back here with an apology for not writing. However, I’ve been doing a great deal of it. I finished a book proposal for a book I am calling, “How To Be Old” (you have all inspired me) and submitted 2 essays for a writing class I’ve been taking that...

If You Love Denim Jeans You Can Love Being Old: A Rose

If You Love Denim Jeans You Can Love Being Old: A Rose

I find it so interesting that while we endorse the idea that our denim jeans have a unique ability to gain character and value as they get older, fade and get used, we resist applying the same logic to the aging process of human beings. Why do we allow so many...

A Walk Into Town: A Bud

A Walk Into Town: A Bud

Today I took a walk into town. Somehow shorter than I thought it would be, I arrived in about 20 minutes. I dressed with a little more care, not the usual t-shirt, jeans and green Birkenstock garden clogs I’ve been wearing every day. I do jazz them up with...

How To Be  Old

How To Be Old

I’m very attracted to all things old right now. Houses, furniture, perennials, trees, clothes, and women writers. I’m looking to them in the hope they'll share some secrets they know about how to be old. They all seem so satisfied with their circumstances, yet they...

Morning Rituals and a Morning Room

Morning Rituals and a Morning Room

During this first week of March, I’m thinking about morning rituals. I’m at my very best in the morning. I can sustain my attention, my mood is good unless the vestiges of a bad dream hang around my shoulders, a slight weight of something being not right draped around...

A New Old Car

A New Old Car

We’ve been determined to minimize buying new and using recycled “things” as we restore and furnish our new old house. We’ve been doing a good job of it, except for one or two items. In all the new old things we’re purchasing and in our new old house, we find that...

Native Plants and This Time Rabbit Holes

Native Plants and This Time Rabbit Holes

Thank you for all the good wishes and tips I received after my last post. Words can’t describe the suffusion of warmth I felt as I read comment after comment. I feel so grateful, during these times, for the community we have created here of articulate, thoughtful,...

Chipmunk Holes

Chipmunk Holes

I apologize for the lapse in posting, but the last month of getting to the closing of the house, coordinating the actual move and moving has been taking up most of my time. Of course, I still need to do some work for Accidental and my consulting, babysitting duty and...

Shoulder Pain

Shoulder Pain

I consider myself to be a very open person, yet I prefer to sleep on my side. Curled into a fetal position, I feel safe and usually have the sweetest and deepest of sleep. Two weeks ago I woke to a dull painful ache in my shoulder, intensifying with each passing day....

Magical Properties

Magical Properties

Since I’ve been a small girl, I’ve always imbued objects with magical properties. Perhaps it came from being raised as a very strict Catholic, whereas an inquisitive child it compelled you to suspend disbelief. Because of your faith, you had to believe the most...

Changing Times, Changing Hair

Changing Times, Changing Hair

This post is sponsored by Hair Biology. All thoughts and opinions are my own. There’s been a good deal of chatter about hair on my blog and Instagram since we’ve all had to spend time in quarantine. Whether lamenting our inability to get a haircut or worrying over...