Category: 2026
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I Suffer From an Ailment of Aging
In our formative years the learning process is continual and rapid. Somewhere along the way, at first imperceptibly, learning speed slackens. It takes longer to master new dance routines or computer programs or words to a song. As decades roll by we gradually succumb to a mental malady called CRS – can’t remember shit, sometimes…
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It Doesn’t Take Much to Make My Day
My day did not begin well. The alarm rang a few minutes after 6:00 a.m., forcing me to open my eyes and acknowledge a new day before the rest of my body was ready. Travel, babysitting, minor aches and pains, and laziness kept me from the gym for over a month. It was time to…
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Surviving the Mid-Term Elections
The long, drawn out, excruciatingly painful mid-term election campaigns are constantly in the news. To avoid the 24/7 onslaught I can turn off the TV, ignore the torrent of political emails received almost hourly, avoid reading newspapers and listening to commentators, refuse to discuss the elections with anyone…on the other hand, I want to know…
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Golden Years Sometimes Bring Tears
Age-wise, I am in a sweet spot dubbed ‘the golden years’. The term was first coined in a 1959 ad for Sun City, Arizona, considered the first active adult retirement community. The phrase is supposed to conjure images of retirement, leisure time, relaxation, enjoyment of life – a stretch of time before the ailments and…
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My Cluttered Closet and My Chaotic Life
Careful, extended, scholarly research on the significance of cluttered, or clutter-less, closets results in the revelation that they are a window into the mind Does my messy closet indicate my life is a chaotic, confused mess? I suspect there is a correlation. Apparently the things we accumulate offer insight into our mental state, and possibly…
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Red, White, Blue, and Other Colors Too
We think of red, white, and blue when celebrating 250 years of our nation’s history. That is noble and patriotic. Unfortunately this year I am not in a celebratory mood. A combination of personal angst because of family health issues, and unpatriotic angst due to the chaos our country currently experiences, my celebration meter hovers…
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America Will Lose Trump’s War with Iran
The President of the United States will declare victory in the country’s current conflict with Iran. His sycophants will cheer and acclaim his glorious accomplishment. But the actual loser will be the United States. Folks might believe the hype that the country won Trump’s Middle East excursion. His armed forces bombed the hell out of…
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Coffee Shop Companionship
The coffee shop was busy Wednesday morning. The dreary cold weather may have had something to do with the crowd. Gray skies send folks for coffee or hot chocolate, maybe a hot breakfast or pastry. A combination of bleak weather and bleaker news may push people into depression, or ignorance, or denial. Sometimes it directs…
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Daily Life in Retirement
Friends and acquaintances younger than I am, approaching retirement, ask me what I do all day. This is my response… The alarm rings at 7:30 am, but by then my morning routine is well underway. I set the alarm most days so I don’t become lazy and sleep too much. Once in a while, when…
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I Decide on Foreign Flavor for a Winter Escape
What is it like to spend a month away from home? Steve and I escaped one of the worst winters in years on the east coast, probably decades; final statistics are not yet in. The past few winters have been relatively mild. I have a puffy warm winter coat that for years did not see…