Yesterday, I gave blood at a Red Cross Blood Drive in my town. I’ve been doing so for two decades. While I was deferred for long stints of time due to my pregnancies and was physically unable to get to a blood drive for the two years I lived overseas, I have been consistently dedicated […]

Read more "Bloody Altruism"

Yesterday I asked my Facebook “friends” a few hypothetical questions about “friending” and “unfriending.” (I put quotes around the word “friend” because, for me, that word evokes something very different from what I have with the vast majority of my FB “friends.” I use quotes around the “-ing” variations of the words because, no matter […]

Read more "“Till human voices wake us, and we drown.”"

The other day I was at my local mechanic. With a 2000 VW Cabrio with 123K miles, I’m there a lot. Over the years of going to the garage, I’ve come to feel a real affection for the men who spend six days a week working hard to keep their neighbors’ cars, trucks, and motorcycles […]

Read more "Little Plastic People are Usually Pretty Perfect"

I read someplace that all “writers” should find a special spot to “work their craft.” For me, the mere suggestion evokes images of magic wands, long cloaks with roomy hoods, and steamy cauldrons. Mystical and a little frightening, erudite and a little pretentious. Where I write is none of those. It’s an eight by eight […]

Read more "Seven Orchids, So Far"

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” This American proverb was frequently quoted by my late father. A few years ago, I found a coffee mug in Booth Bay Harbor, Maine with those words printed on the side. I bought it, and whenever I choose it from the dozen hanging on hooks in […]

Read more "Change is Hard and Tastes Like Hot Lemon Water"

Before I get started, how about a quick joke? Q: What’s brown and sticky? A: A stick. That’s one my favorite jokes. It’s funny simply for exposing where our minds naturally take us. Also, it makes me laugh every time I tell it because I can picture my now 14-year-old son telling me it over […]

Read more "Warning: Copious Amounts of Sh*t Follow"

When I got to my first yoga class of 2016 yesterday morning at 9:30, I was more than a little surprised to see only two other attendees. The year before, the 1/1/15 morning class was packed full. Now it might have been the icy conditions which kept people at home yesterday, though I wonder if […]

Read more "It’s Full of Rocks"

I have one of these hanging from a string in my writing space. It is called an “evil eye,” and it is used to ward of the curse brought on by an actual “evil eye,” which is little more than a “malevolent glare” given to someone when that person is unaware of the dirty look. […]

Read more "The Cheapest Insurance Policy Out There"

Every New Year’s Eve since I was old enough to make grand statements about how I wanted my life to be, I’ve been making New Year’s resolutions. It’s probably fair to say that this annual habit began in the early 1980s. (I make this claim based on a document I found titled “Will” and dated […]

Read more "Take Away, Give To, Give Back"

I’ll be the first to admit that I love reading the eloquence which others can wield with words. Yesterday, I was uniquely struck by a post I read on FB. It was written by a high school classmate who I didn’t know well and only connected to on FB because he was a “friend of […]

Read more "I am a Thief"