Peggy McManus

By Peggy McManus June 2026 I love a good meadow and had the good fortune to survive a great deal of time in them as a child. My vast experience with meadows came about because of my parents, who regularly headed out to the country to forage for food. They knew all the best places to look, and the far majority of them were in or near a meadow. A stand of birch trees or the charred remains of a forest fire were great places to find morels. Hike up a mountain on a warm July day, and you could...

By Peggy McManus Mar 2026 Family dinners were the highlight of my young life. We gathered at the kitchen table, enjoying Mom’s cooking, sharing stories of the day’s events, and laughing. Generally, the recaps of my days were tainted with awkward moments and unfortunate outcomes. “A boy at lunch was chewing with his mouth open today,” I reported one evening. “It was so disgusting, I accidentally let out a scream.” “That’s a bit of an overreaction,” Mom said.“Did your teacher tell him to close...

By Peggy McManus I love dogs. I just don’t love owning dogs. For me, dogs are like grandchildren. It’s great when they pop by for a visit, but once they get tired and cranky, it’s time for them to leave. The truth is, just like kids, dogs are gross. At least that’s true of the dogs I’ve known. I once had an adorable Cockapoo named Tank. He was a nice dog; good with kids, not a barker, and he even protected my beloved cat, Fuzz. But Tank had a fatal flaw, and it wasn’t that he used my...