Danny Heitman

1 week ago | csmonitor.com | Danny Heitman

My wife is an avid gardener, so when the need for a gift arises, I often rely on seed companies and plant nurseries to answer her heart’s desires. That’s how I’ve ended up on email lists for retailers who cater to green thumbs. It’s made for a lively inbox as I reach for my smartphone each morning. If not for these sales pitches for petunias and potting soil, for daisies, dahlias, and designer wheelbarrows, my menu of messages would tend toward the sensibly gray.

1 week ago | theadvocate.com | Danny Heitman

As another Father's Day arrives, I've been thinking of a time when fatherhood seemed to challenge me by giving me what I'd asked for. In 2020, my wife and I were adjusting to newfound roles as empty nesters. Our daughter had started a career far away, and our son was in college out of state. We were happy for them and welcomed their independence. Sometimes, though, we wondered what it might be like to follow them through just one day, perched near their shoulders as they navigated young adulthood.

2 weeks ago | theadvocate.com | Danny Heitman

When Tove Jansson arrived in New Orleans in 1972 for an extended visit, few people knew that a celebrity was in their midst. Her stay helped shape another surprise — namely, one of the best books about summer ever written. The tale of how all this came about is worth revisiting as another summer unfolds and Jansson’s work attracts renewed attention.

3 weeks ago | theadvocate.com | Danny Heitman

From the window in our south Louisiana kitchen where I make coffee each morning, I can see that our big sycamore is shedding again, as it always does at this time of year. The trunk drops its outer layer each summer, and long strips of bark litter the lawn like a manuscript tossed to the wind. We’ll mow and rake to straighten things up, but a sycamore, like summer itself, can only be tidied so much. Here and there throughout the yard, I spot other signs of rebellion.

1 month ago | theadvocate.com | Danny Heitman

When our family of four headed out for summer vacations, I’d throw some paperbacks in an old canvas bag just in case there was time to read. Life as a young husband and father seldom yielded those moments, but I was ready if a spare hour came while we sunned on the beach or lounged on a mountainside porch. Summers are different now that our kids are grown. My wife and I no longer answer to the school calendar, so there might be years when we travel in other seasons and spend summers at home.