This essay in Maureen Dowd’s column ran in the New York Times on Christmas Day. Here’s the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/26/opinion/dowd-why-god.html?src=me&ref=general Kevin O’Neill wrote the bulk of the column – a meditation. He’s a priest but more importantly, he’s a human being called upon to help others in a way that’s very difficult for most of [...]

I’ve got three Golden Retrievers guarding the perimeter… of my bedroom.  It’s pouring rain outside. I’m considering whether the run to retrieve the New York Times at the end of the driveway is worth it when I am so cozy. But on the plus side, I can grab another coffee when I do. Thinking. OK…be [...]

Everyday is a thanksgiving day when you have been granted more days in life than expected.  And when you think about it, had we been born yesterday in Africa or three hundred years ago anywhere, survival expectations were pretty grim. So I’m happy to have been born in America in 1957 and to have benefitted [...]

On my walk this morning, I selected a podcast thinking I wanted to learn something. I didn’t even look at the topic. I just knew it was a Fresh Air podcast, an interview with a person I never heard of and because of the small screen, no idea of the topic either. I grabbed the [...]

Labor Day marks the end of summer for many of us desperately holding onto the last vestiges of summer.  We try to ignore the darkening skies descending on both ends, daylight hours shorter by the minute. During my childhood, school beginnings in August were unheard of or perhaps viewed as infringements on child labor agreements. [...]

  On my first trip to Hawaii, I fell in love…with a sea turtle. Life below the ocean surface was amazing to me. Having never snorkeled before, I faced down my general anxiety at the idea and gamely attempted to master the skill.  I was so awkward! But awkward or not, my attempts were rewarded. [...]

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged because I’ve been a bit stymied by the intrusion of “versus” – like public vs. personal, work vs. home, and employer vs. employee. While I’ve never mentioned my employer on my blog, many people know where I work and have actually read my blog because of some kind [...]

I had such a fun morning doing nothing but sitting outside and reading the paper as the day heated up. I get the New York Times every so often – the $6 cost for the Sunday edition is a bit over-the-top but I like the writing, the variety of topics and a more substantive discussion [...]

      April is Donate Life Month. As of March 2012* there are : 113,115 Patients Waiting 63,016 Multicultural Patients 1,801 Pediatric Patients There were 28,535 Organ Transplants Performed in 2011 and 14,144 Organ Donors in 2011 In California, visit www.donatelifecalifornia.org for more information or for national information go to www.donate life.net Please don’t make [...]

I started April with a bodacious goal that just kept growing. First it was “some form of exercise every day” then I added “do some kind of exercise for specific areas – abs, upper body – every day” and grew it more, add “some kind of mental gymnastics” plus the ‘ol standby, “drink more water” [...]