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A Leading Question

The graduation ceremony for my Putnam Leadership class was last week. No ”Pomp and Circumstance” or caps and gowns, but it included speeches by the leaders of the program, announcements of our activities and achievements, and presentation of our graduation certificates. Plus a nice dinner and a gift bag. In addition to the graduates and instructors, several city and county officials attended the event. I always find occasions such as this to be bittersweet, representing both an ending and a beginning. They bring an end [...]

By |May 2nd, 2022|Achieving Dreams and Goals, Columns, Quotes and Sayings, Writing|Comments Off on A Leading Question

A Powerful New Phrase

The only language I’m fluent in is English, although I know a handful of words and phrases – like hello, goodbye, good morning, good night, please, and thank you – in half a dozen or so other languages. And, thanks to watching Sesame Street with my kids when they were small, I can sing the numbers one to ten in Spanish. There are limited times and places I have the opportunity to use this knowledge, but I just learned a new phrase in Japanese that [...]

By |January 15th, 2022|Accountability, Columns, Health and Well-being, Quotes and Sayings|Comments Off on A Powerful New Phrase

Getting there was NOT half the fun

“A beer truck knocked down a power pole at the Plaza. Traffic is being rerouted, and your electricity is out. Merry Christmas!” That’s the text message I sent to my sister – who was out running errands at the time – when we got to her house, where we were staying overnight on our way to Minnesota a few days before Christmas. At first, she thought I was joking, but since there were no laughing or winking emojis accompanying my text, she quickly realized I [...]

By |January 8th, 2022|Columns, Family, Holidays, Quotes and Sayings, Travel|Comments Off on Getting there was NOT half the fun

An Unusual Day

It was an unusual day, to say the least. I spent a fair amount of last Wednesday morning at the police station and in court. And I spent part of the afternoon in the sheriff’s office. I was also in the city and county administrative offices and, for good measure, the county animal shelter – which is right next door to the sheriff’s office, although I don’t think they’re related. I hope you’ve already assumed I wasn’t taken to any of these places by the [...]

By |December 6th, 2021|Accountability, Columns, Making a Difference, Quotes and Sayings, Values|Comments Off on An Unusual Day

A Peter Piper Predicament

I love to cook and bake. I don’t do nearly as much now that our kids are grown and gone, but I still enjoy trying new recipes. Although I don’t subscribe to any recipe-related websites, articles regularly show up in my inbox with titles such as “20 meals to make in 30 minutes or less,” or “Twelve things to make in a muffin tin besides muffins.” I usually skim through them, and often find a few that I want to try. One that caught my [...]

By |October 4th, 2021|Columns, Quotes and Sayings|Comments Off on A Peter Piper Predicament

One More Time

At first it felt like I was living in a parallel universe. But now it feels – as Yogi Berra once famously said – like déjà vu all over again. I’m talking about the coronavirus, of course. Once my husband and I were vaccinated, it still took a little while for it to feel natural to go out without wearing a mask. Or to go anywhere other than for essential errands and appointments. But as people started getting vaccinated in greater numbers, and cases of [...]

By |July 31st, 2021|Accountability, Columns, Health and Well-being, Quotes and Sayings|Comments Off on One More Time

With all due respect

“Unity” is a word I’ve been hearing on the news a lot lately, ever since President Biden, in his inaugural address, called for unity between political parties. So far, however, it hasn’t been working out too well. Before we can achieve unity, or agreements of any kind, I think there are a few other words we need to put into practice – as individuals and groups, as well as communities and governments. I also think we need – if I may paraphrase a line from [...]

By |February 5th, 2021|Columns, Quotes and Sayings, Respect, Values|Comments Off on With all due respect

No Rotten Apples

It all started while my sisters and I were trying to set up a Zoom call last Sunday. As we texted our schedules back and forth, trying to work around meals and football games, one sister mentioned she needed a little extra time for dinner because she had potatoes to mash. My other sister responded that she never mashes potatoes anymore, she just boils them. So of course I had to add that I make mashed potatoes only two or three times a year, but [...]

By |December 12th, 2020|Columns, Family, Health and Well-being, Holidays, Quotes and Sayings|Comments Off on No Rotten Apples

Words (NOT) of Wisdom

I had a Zoom meeting a few days ago with other members of a neighborhood club I belong to. The main item on the agenda – other than just touching  base and catching up with each other – was voting to elect a new treasurer, since our previous one had to resign due to health issues. After the vote, our new treasurer shared the story that when interviewing for her first job, she had to take a number of tests on various subjects at the [...]

A Different Mother’s Day

I think it was Erma Bombeck who said, “Mother’s Day is the day on which the family gathers together to thank their mom for everything she does – like cook a big Mother’s Day dinner for everyone.” Actually, Mother’s Day is a day on which many families traditionally take Mom out for brunch or dinner, so she doesn’t have to cook. But there’s nothing traditional about Mother’s Day this year. Most restaurants around the country are still closed, or unavailable for in-house dining. Travel is [...]

By |May 8th, 2020|Columns, Family, Health and Well-being, Holidays, Quotes and Sayings|Comments Off on A Different Mother’s Day