When I get on the treadmill at the health club, I don’t pay much attention to the people around me, other than to nod in greeting if they happen to glance over as I’m getting on or off. So I didn’t notice anything unusual about the young woman on the machine next to mine until someone else walked by and started talking to her, congratulating her on her new baby and saying how great it was that she brought him to the club with her. [...]
“Sometimes, all I need is the air that I breathe, and to love you.” That’s a line from an old song by the Hollies, recorded back in the ’70s. I can’t remember the last time I heard the song on the radio, but that line popped into my head recently. And though it comes from the chorus of a love song, I started thinking about it in relation to something that is not nearly as romantic and that has been on the radio a lot [...]
When I say the word “chicken,” what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Maybe you envision an actual rooster or hen. Or perhaps it’s a plate of chicken nuggets or Kentucky Fried. You might think of a childhood bully’s taunt, daring you to try something stupid or dangerous, and then calling you a chicken when you don’t oblige. Right now, the word “chicken” takes me back to Uganda, where I spent two weeks recently, visiting commercial and family poultry farms, a hatchery, a [...]
There’s an elderly gentleman I often see when I’m at the health club. We chatted a bit one day while we were on side-by-side treadmills, so now we’re old friends – meaning we smile and say hello whenever we see each other. When I greeted him the other morning and answered his “How are you today?” with “Fine, thanks. And you?” he responded enthusiastically that he was doing great. Then he added, “In fact, I’m fantastic! If I were any better, I wouldn’t be able [...]
I received a number of responses to last week’s blog, which focused on the people who lost everything in Hurricane Dorian, and on the way the storm put things in perspective for those of us who often get frustrated and annoyed by minor inconveniences. One of my friends, who lives in Florida, said he recently starting working on a way to deal with those minor inconveniences. Whenever he encounters an issue or problem that causes him stress, pain, or discomfort, he tries to remember there [...]
Due to a minor plumbing problem, we were without water in our house for two days last week. It was inconvenient and uncomfortable, especially since we didn’t foresee the need to fill containers or our sink with water ahead of time for drinking or washing. Still, it was indeed a minor issue, and the timing of it kept things very much in perspective. By “timing,” of course, I’m talking about this happening the same week as the catastrophic hurricane that decimated the Bahamas before turning [...]
“She’s transitioning,” the nurse told us, which was a lot more comforting to hear than, “She’s dying.” “Transitioning” made it sound as if she were simply moving from one phase of life to another, and that’s actually what she was doing. A booklet given to us by the hospice chaplain contained a poem that described dying in terms of a ship sailing away toward the horizon, getting smaller and smaller in our sight, but not in reality. On a far distant shore, one beyond our [...]
One of my favorite annual events was this week – the Perseid Meteor Shower, which shows up every August. And, as always, I set my alarm for the wee hours of the morning in order to watch for the shooting stars it always brings. A bright, full moon made it difficult to see much of anything earlier in the evening, so prime viewing time was much later – closer to the next morning than the night before. For two nights in a row, I got [...]
It was a great birthday. It was a great party. My husband’s Aunt Vera turned 100 last week, and we were among the family members who traveled to Chicago to help her celebrate. Her two surviving siblings were there, and many of her nieces and nephews, some who came from as far away as California, West Virginia, and Texas. And, of course, Georgia. “Is it a surprise party?” a number of people asked when I told them why I was going out of town. My [...]
It was a perfect night for stargazing. The heat and humidity of the day had dissipated, and the sky was clear and bright. We weren’t scheduled for one of the major astronomical events that occur regularly, like the Perseid or Leonid meteor showers, or for a once-in-a-lifetime event like a super-blood-red-total-lunar-eclipse-moon. But when our neighbors invited a group of us over to enjoy the night sky and each other’s company, we were all in. “Bring your binoculars,” they said. It was still light out when [...]