Blog Posts
brief comments on contemporary conditions from a multidisciplinary perspective
Samhain
Daylight hours are becoming shorter. Autumn harvesting is done. It is a time to celebrate the season’s harvest and to transition into those darker days. You are part of the Celtic spiritual tradition of Samhain (a Gaelic word, pronounced SAH-win or SOW-in). It is time...
A Word on World Letter Writing Day
September 1st is World Letter Writing Day—established more than a decade after the world switched to using thumbs on tiny touchscreens to correspond in a new language called texting. On the WLWD website, the Day’s founder, Richard Simpkin of Australia, shares his...
The First Day of School
I grew up in a family of modest means. We were not poor, but my parents had to be very careful with our budget. Prioritized expenditures included a home in good repair, healthy food, and clothing that would last. Among the things that were free, education was the most...
A Walk Along the Levees
A few minutes’ drive from my home on a typical January day, northern shovelers, teals, gadwalls, ruddy ducks, and mallards float amidst the ponds and along the Charleston Slough. Male and female pairs paddle toward a shoreline or simply take a meandering path in the...
Bathtub Tales
My father believed that imagination was precious, no matter the time or place. And one of those times was bath time when my sister and I were very young. He talked to us about heads, shoulders, knees, and toes. With our early bathing lessons, we learned that keeping...
Tales of Toys
We called my great-grandmother Nanny. Her toy chest was a worn wicker laundry basket filled with wooden spools (all that remained after their sewing thread had stitched and mended clothing or other torn fabric during the Great Depression or World War II), an iron from...
Soft Pretzels and German Brown Mustard
I understand that there are people who cannot imagine putting any kind of mustard on pretzels. I get that. I can’t imagine putting yellow mustard on anything. Pretzels, of course, should be paired with German-style brown mustard. This is no advertisement, but I grew...
A Day Placed in Perspective
There is no question that I am extremely fortunate to have the life I have. I never lose sight of that. I will also observe that even when our challenges are small, they can add up to mental exhaustion. Today was that kind of day. By mid-afternoon I had concluded that...
Feline OCD
One of our cats is just plain crazy (and I mean that in a non-pejorative way). The other has what I can only guess is obsessive-compulsive disorder. For humans, OCD involves focused, persistent thoughts that are brought on by anxiety. The obsessive thoughts tend to...
My Deodorant Expired.
My deodorant expired. I noticed that over the course of a couple of weeks, the antiperspirant in my deodorant wasn’t working nearly well enough. Is it possible that antiperspirants have an expiration date? Is that even a thing for a bunch of chemicals? Well, yes. Turn...