Margaret Bacon

By late October, we accept a number of things that would look peculiar at any other time of year. Women fly on broomsticks. Black cats become ominous. Pumpkins acquire frightening faces. Skeletons take up residence on otherwise respectable lawns. Children demand candy from whoever answers the door. Each of these traditions has its own backstory. Halloween was assembled slowly, over centuries, from religion, folklore, domestic life, old-world customs and, unexpectedly, the beer business. Ghosts have the oldest claim on this season Part of Halloween’s ancestry…

At 8 o’clock in the morning, I am a person of considerable resolve. I will exercise before breakfast. I may even stretch afterward, a practice I have long admired in others. Tonight, I will eat a sensible dinner, go to bed on time and return to the half-read novel on my nightstand instead of scrolling on my phone. Current columnist Margaret Bacon COURTESY PHOTO But alas, at 10:30 p.m., this resolve is difficult to find. I am watching a French crime drama. The mayor has…

In the house where I grew up, hesitation had consequences. We were a large Irish Catholic family of six children, which in our neighborhood barely qualified as ambitious. Love was plentiful and silence was suspicious. At the center of our kitchen table sat a wooden lazy Susan. It revolved steadily, like destiny. If you hesitated, the potatoes continued their orbit without apology. Food was not passed. It was intercepted. You learned timing. You learned trajectory. You learned that the gravy does not wait for personal…

I can name all three of Prince William and Kate's children, in birth order. I also know more about Tom Brady than I ever intended to. I discovered this about myself last Tuesday while standing at the kitchen counter, waiting for the coffee, thinking of nothing in particular. I have visited England more than once, and the royal family has never once invited me to tea. Tom Brady has never called either. I could not, if you asked me right now, tell you the names…

My husband and I once spent the better part of three weeks selecting a sofa. Current columnist Margaret Bacon COURTESY PHOTO We had three children. Looking back, I am fairly certain that the decision to have any one of them received less study than the sofa. We had a system. We visited showrooms. We debated cushion firmness, leg finish and something called “seat depth,” which apparently determines whether you sit on a piece of furniture or are absorbed by it. We brought home fabric swatches.…

What's on your ballot, what each level costs, and how to vote for exactly what you want If you have looked at the June 9 ballot and wondered why there are four separate override questions, you are not alone. The ballot can look confusing at first glance. Here is a straightforward explanation of what each question means, what it is projected to cost, and how to vote for the outcome you actually want. The four override questions are really asking voters to make two separate…

Waiting used to be part of life. Now it feels like a glitch. There was a time when waiting was simply built in. You waited for letters. You waited for harvests. You waited for news. If someone was late, you assumed weather or traffic, not a character flaw. Waiting was not an interruption. It was normal. A spinning wheel on a screen can raise the pulse. A delayed text can feel like a verdict on your character. A package that arrives in three days instead…