I was listening to the radio the other day and heard a falsehood repeated from my youth. It originally came from my elementary school days during the cold war. “If there’s an atomic bomb threat, push all the desks together and crawl under yours. That will protect you if the windows explode. The glass won’t …
Word Count
I’ve lived long enough to hear several claims about men and women, but few have hung around like the idea that women talk more. You’ve probably heard numbers like these tossed around: “Women use 20,000 words a day and men only use 7,000.” People repeat it with confidence. I believed it too until I started …
Failure and Success
Last week in my Single New Beginnings class one of the participants asked me a question about a quotation that we read every week. I’ve been reading it for over a year. She’s read it for over two but never raised the question before. I was surprised when she took exception to the statement and …
Timing is Everything
My friend Jim believed time mattered. Not just his own, but everyone’s. He treated punctuality as a form of respect. He set every clock and watch ten minutes fast. If he said he’d arrive at 6:00, he’d be in my driveway at 5:50. I didn’t mind that so much in the evenings, but in the …
The Dishwasher Decision
I bought a new dishwasher last week. They installed it yesterday, and I have to say this was the first time I’ve ever bought an appliance entirely on my own. A few years ago, I replaced a clothes washer, but that doesn’t count. That was like buying a new pair of slacks — same size, …
Pull Up a Chair
Every blog has a beginning, though most of us don’t know how long that run will be when we write that first post. Over eight years ago, I hit “publish” without knowing where any of this would lead. I just knew I had something to say, and this felt like the right place to say …
Habits of Mind
I have a little bulletin board positioned above my desk in Florida. I see it every day when I’m sitting at my computer and I change very little of it. It’s got a place for storing envelopes, both legal and letter size, a postcard Ruth sent herself from Cuba in 2019, a post it note …
The BIG Takeaway
The BIG takeaway from my karaoke lessons, and the approximately forty-four hours of dance lessons, is simply this: what do you have to lose? Stepping out of your comfort zone is all about expanding your horizon. Sometimes you’ve just got to go for it. My dance partner Barbara and I have completed three-quarters of the …
If You’re Reading This on Wednesday
If you’re reading this on Wednesday, my heart catheterization went smoothly yesterday. It was a follow-up to the one I had last April. I’ve had some lightheadedness and heavy legs lately, so my cardiologist thought it was wise to take another look. Sounds pretty dramatic, doesn’t it? In any case, I’m going to be busy …
Tribes
I have a few friends who refer to their closest companions as belonging to a tribe. It sounded odd the first time I heard it, but over time I’ve come to understand its meaning and significance. According to Google, “Historically, tribes were the earliest form of organized human society. People lived, worked, hunted, celebrated, and …