First published in the Ipswich Local News January 31, 2025 I can enjoy winter. Just not here. Obviously, I can easily enjoy winter when I’m in the tropics (cue my parents, who live in Miami!). But just last week, we were in Jackson, Wyo., where it’s winter on steroids, and I was happy — sometimes even tickled — by…
Author: Esther Baird
The Imperfect Ornament
First published in the Ipswich Local News December 23, 2024 I should have said no, but I wanted to be a person who said yes. A person who was… crafty. (Regular readers can wipe up any beverage they may have just spit out.) I was invited to an ornament party where we’d, “create handmade ornaments for each…
Dancing Outside the Lines
First published in the Ipswich Local News November 30, 2024 On one of our early dates in college — say, 1993 — my now-husband bought me cowboy boots and took me to a Longhorn Steakhouse in the Chicago suburbs so I could show them off (and stomp on peanuts as we threw them on the floor). I…
Make Way for the Muffin Mom
First published in the Ipswich Local News October 25, 2024 I cook a lot. I mean, no one would say that I should open a restaurant, and I’m not great at planning how much food to prepare if the number gets higher than, say, 10 people (that’s obviously what restaurants are for). And yes, I complain about…
Back to School, One More Time
First published in the Ipswich Local News September 16, 2024 I’ve been writing back-to-school columns for 15 years, and I’m basically out of a job. Our eldest is a junior in college. While the half-country drive to Chicago is no day at the park (it’s actually two days in rural Nowheresville), once she’s there — and her…
Robbery Gone Wrong
By Esther C. Baird. First published in the Ipswich Local News August 16, 2024 “I’m in your closet, trying to find gym shorts,” said our high-school-aged daughter. Entire columns could be written about why the American teenage girl feels compelled to raid other people’s closets to accomplish their fashion goals … and why it never ends well….
Air Conditioning By Any Other Name
First published in the Ipswich Local News July 2, 2024 I grew up with air conditioning. It was only when I was in college that I realized sleeping in a wet bathing suit in front of a fan wasn’t technically considered “air conditioning.” Whatever. But this summer, our [central] AC was struggling. The downstairs unit started shorting…
Pool Season
First published in the Ipswich Local News June 9, 2024 When we first moved to Boston and began searching for a home, I had two rules: I needed a bathtub (not for kids, for me — I take baths). And secondly, I would not tolerate a pool. Pools in the Arctic Circle, where penguins dot our yards,…
100,000 Miles to Go
First published in the Ipswich Local News May 10, 2024 I’m typing this in the White Whoosh. Nothing new there — many a column has been typed from within my second home (my minivan). Regular readers may recall that, in 2020, I had a snap with reality and traded in our first minivan for a Volvo. It…
Fermented at Fifty
First published in the Ipswich Local News April 10, 2024 Regular readers will know that I love a good milestone column. Losing one’s first tooth, learning to ride a bike, the first days of middle school, high school, and college. Driver’s licenses, new puppies, new houses, new jobs — sorry, am I rambling? Fine. This last…