Patti Koltes
Real Life © by Patti Koltes. Contact her at pkoltes@gmail.com.
Real Life – Inbox
As I boxed up my Thanksgiving decorations in no particular order, only to discover the same jumble presents itself in the Christmas category, I...
Real Life – Baked Alaska
My husband John and I expressed ourselves through cooking before the concept of love languages was a thing.
Neither of us had come from culinary...
Real Life – Pastime
When I originally started playing Candy Land with our granddaughter, she barely knew her colors, much less how to match the card she had...
Real Life – Just Ask
Home equipment malfunctions have tried my patience lately, but in the “tell me some good news” department, it’s also presented a creative opportunity to...
Real Life – Time Warp
I have been listening to a podcast called “Dolly Parton’s America.”
Although I enjoy country music when I am exposed to it, I have been...
Real Life – A liberal education
When I set off to college, my father inquired about the direction of study I would pursue. I declared an English major, to which...
Real Life – Finding the path
I have opined, wryly, that all roads lead to Naperville, but disaster and destruction are not what we usually are known for.
Living in the...
Real Life – Better than Zoom
It hadn’t been seventeen years since I ventured to an unknown city, but emerging from tight pandemic protocols felt significant in the way that...
Real Life – Connected
The irony of reading a book called Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport is not lost on me.
Starved for social contact due to pandemic restrictions,...
Real Life – Small joys
The Spathifyllum in our south window thrived for years when Sophie the Wonder Dog ruled the roost, and Clyde the cat made himself scarce...
Real Life – For the Record
When I was a child, my parents drove our family of five to Cape Cod for a vacation.
They were likely hopeful that we would...
Real Life – Comfort food
The holiday glitz and greenery came down early this year. Their cheery efforts expended, they seemed, quite suddenly, out of place.
All I wanted to...
Real Life – Hotwheels
When the last of our children bought a first car at age 33, it became clear how much times have changed since when we...
Real Life – Inward Bound
Soon after arriving in Florida this March for an experimental month in the sun, I began writing a pandemic journal.
Many months into our altered...
Real Life – Panorama
Not all the attractions at the Brookfield Zoo are alive.
For those of us who enjoy ruminating about the march of history, the forty life-like...
Real Life – Searching for the light
In 2011, we had one of those years where you ask yourself if anything else can go wrong.
Perched on the precipice of a personal...
Real Life – Digging In
Perhaps my sluggish mood improved because of the weather — a week of moderate summer temperatures with negligible humidity, blue skies dotted with puffy...
Real Life – Chopin in the Afternoon
My interest in piano began at my father’s side.
Sitting next to Dad on the bench, I watched his fingers. Listened to him hum in...
Real Life – When it rains
When my husband and I longed for peace, we retreated to what we called The Church of the Trees.
Camping was our refuge from the...
Real Life – Report from home base
Time in a pandemic seems to stretch endlessly, yet disappears in the blink of an eye.
Our early days here in Florida were busy enough,...
