Our best laid plans? Life has other ideas.
Can We Ever Truly Know Our Parents?
It’s Father’s Day. The first thing I did when I woke was go straight to the small framed Polaroid of my dad and me, taken on the last day I saw him. Father’s Day, nearly 25 years ago. There are a handful of other images tucked away. But that one, of the two of us, […]
Where everyone knows your name
Cheers Bar It was afternoon. Late. I had to get out of the house. See people. Something different. Anything. And it was Friday. I had been chicken a week earlier. Unable to talk myself into an elegant bar just 20 yards in front of me. I wasn’t going to be chicken again, but I needed […]
Tangled Torsos, Lively Libido?
Tantalizing touch Troubles at work, struggles in your personal life, health concerns – all add to a lagging libido, nudging the desire for desire to drop off the edge of our daily diaries. And wouldn’t we be so much better off if we could rally our feral forces, and indulge in some quality coupling? For […]
Books, files, clothes, shoes: My life in the closet
It’s Saturday morning. I’m sipping coffee in the living room. Pouting. Glaring at two red chairs heaped with files and books and mail. I’m trying to will the mess away. So far, not so good. . . Nearby is an 8-pack of paper towels, a 12-pack of toilet paper, along with my sandals, my kid’s […]
If It Ain’t Broke. . . Break It?
Sure, sure. We all know the saying. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And most of the time, it makes sense. Why mess with a good thing, right? In fact, I’m a proponent of the “if it aint’ broke” crowd in many circumstances, especially in relationships. For example, I won’t be pushed to a […]
How to recognize value
It’s been a lovely afternoon of wandering the flea market, enjoying the crowd and the diversity of antiques and vintage curiosities. You pick up a small silver fork and wonder why its tongs curve outward so delicately. You turn it over, note a hallmark of some sort, feel its weight in your hand, then glance […]
Making Excuses
Setting goals you can’t seem to meet? Are you fighting to attain a dress size? Looking to lose extra pounds and never quite making your goal weight? Your “skinny jeans” make a mockery of your daily diet and your self-esteem. You visit your closet nostalgically, running your fingers over jackets and blouses that once made […]
Moment of silence
Last evening I wrote in the quiet. I watched a movie on cable. I read, then wrote some more. And settled slowly into a rhythm of 24 hours of silence. Strangely peaceful silence. Everything in me unwinds, finally, after a week of being on my own, in this observation of an hour of silence, and […]
“I can’t change. I am who I am.” Say what??
Do you believe you can change? Do you want to change – if not in a major way, then subtly – for instant gratification or something more enduring? Let’s see. There’s my messy kitchen. My disastrous closets. Oh yes, I can think of a few things I’d like to change. May I borrow from the classics […]