A gentle, wonderful man comes home
The world has lost a gentle and wonderful man. Most of the world never knew him, of course, and has no idea what a treasure he was – or how much he will be missed, and by how many people. But I do. After being healthy, active, and extremely social well into his 80’s, my father fell victim to a number of health issues and incidents that kept him either in the hospital or in a care center since early [...]
What’s going on in nighttime dreams?
I had an unsettling dream last week – not once, but twice. The dreams were very different from each other, but somewhat related. The common element was school, and in both of the dreams I found myself totally confused and unprepared. The first one was a common type of recurring dream. I was in college, and suddenly realized that it was the day before finals and I wasn’t ready. For one class, I wasn’t even sure where the classroom was. [...]
Lots of pieces make up the puzzle of our lives
One of the gifts I received this Christmas was a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle of Betty Boop. I’ve always been a Betty Boop fan and collector, and I love doing jigsaw puzzles. One of my fond childhood memories is of sitting at a card table set up in the living room, working on jigsaw puzzles with my mom, dad, and sisters. I started the Betty Boop puzzle on the weekend after New Year’s Day, setting it up in our family room [...]
A Ugandan dance troupe is coming to heat up Minnesota’s winter
Question: What do you get when you take a few dozen people who live just a bit north of the equator, and drop them off in Minnesota in the middle of January – and a January of record cold to boot? Answer: We’re about to find out. That may sound like the premise for a new reality show or the latest fish-out-of-water movie or sitcom, but it’s not. It’s what is going to happen tomorrow when around 20 members of [...]
A classic story warms a chilly night
I went to see Fiddler on the Roof at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres Saturday night. There was something ironic about going to a show set in a Russian village when the temperature right outside our own home was ten degrees below zero. Still, the story is one that warms the heart. Watching the show on Saturday night, I was fine until they got to the song, “Sunrise, Sunset.” That’s when I started to get a little choked up. I was [...]
List of projects leads to fulfilling goals and dreams
“I focus easily and naturally on what is important and rewarding to me, and let go gently and comfortably of what is not. I am accomplishing my goals and fulfilling my dreams.” Whether you would call that an affirmation, a mantra, positive thinking, or wishful thinking, it’s something I’ve been saying to myself several times a day for a few months now. And the reason I’m telling you about it is that it relates so strongly to what I wrote [...]