Category: 2023
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My Post-Surgery Misadventure
A favorite restaurant is located three blocks from my house. I walked out my front door early on a pristine autumn morning, not a cloud in the sky, the sun shining, warming the night-chilled landscape. I walked slowly, unsure how my body would react six days after surgery. The past few days had been spent…
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Musings on the Winter Solstice
The winter solstice, the day with the shortest hours of daylight in the year, has been celebrated by various cultures for thousands of years. The Roman holiday of Saturnalia, the Soyal celebration of the Hopi Indians in Arizona, the ancient Persian festival of Yalda, the Chinese observance of Dong Zhi are just a sampling of…
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Best of Boomers Prepare for December Holidays
I am not a fan of the long, dark days of December. But there is an upside – the holidays of Chanukah and Christmas brighten our lives. We light candles to illuminate the darkness. Homes glow, inside and outside, with multi-colored lights. I prefer white, gold, and silver lights. I enjoy driving through dark neighborhoods…
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All in the Family Changing Christmas Traditions
The holidays conjure up memories of celebrations past – good ones, some not so positive, others we prefer to forget. This particular memory should most likely be left behind. The phone rang one December evening. “Hi, can I talk to Stevie?” I recognized my brother-in-law Will’s voice and began to search the house for my…
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Celebrating the Season In the City
The City – New York City, the Big Apple, the island of Manhattan. The Sunday before Thanksgiving hub and I drove into Manhattan, a challenging, demanding, wearying experience, one we would not normally, usually, when in our right minds, undertake. But our Florida family was staying in the Big Apple for a few days, and…
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Long Day’s Journey through the Night
The holiday season stirs memories of seasons past. This is a story of one holiday trip my family experienced years ago. Disclaimer: No apologies if family and friends who accompanied me on this journey challenge my version of events. Hour 1 Christmas vacation offered a perfect time to visit aging relatives and younger cousins in…
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A Pre-Election Survival Guide
Less than a year from now a momentous event will take place across the United States. A Presidential election. I am already tired of the constant, incessant beating of the election drums. My ears and my mind are numb. How to survive the bombast without losing my mind? I want the rhetoric to STOP! But…
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Off Season Travel an Ideal Senior Activity
Morning in upstate New York, end of October. Photo by Meryl Baer In much of the Northeast by the end of October leaves fall, tourists vanish, and a calm creeps over towns and tourist sites. The off-season reigns. Too late for vibrant, picturesque landscapes, too soon for ski and snow activities, visitors are sparse. There…
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Autumn Winds Down as the Boomers Play…and Work
Halloween marks the unofficial end of the autumn season in my world. Outside peak colors fade rapidly. Leaves shrivel, die, and fall onto my yard and sidewalk, waiting to be raked and removed. Trees appear barren. Colder weather sneaks in. Next weekend we turn back the clocks, and darkness will descend early evening. By late…
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An Inconsequential 1960s Memory
Do You Remember This Iconic 1960s Musical Performer and the TV Event that Rocketed him to Fame? There are certain events, personal and public, that are remembered forever. We can recall them immediately and, no matter how young or old at the time, the occasions become imprinted permanently in our minds. Many of the major…