• Being Human - For fun. - Hope - Light - This really happened. - Travelling

    Siamo arrivati.

    November 8, 2017 - By 

    Allora…so…siamo arrivati. We have arrived. Today is Day Numero 6. When we arrived, at first, I was sure, absolutely sure that I was fine.  I am fine.  I am functioning.  I slept (un po’) on the plane…so…fine.   We took a MyTaxi from MXP to our apartment in the Navigli (canals) district.   We found the apartment.  We opened the door. Dark.  Reeking of cigarettes. I will have to adjust, I thought.   Next I thought: What the devil did we do?   (or WTAF if you want me to use my full expression of our language…) We will be…

  • Being Human - Blessings - Darkness - Difficulty - Family - Fear - Hope - Light - Loss - Safety - This really happened.

    The Fire and the Roses

    September 14, 2017 - By 

    Eleven years ago we were getting ready to leave the house for the first seder at Jane’s house. Russ was just finishing the mowing of the lawn, our table was set with china and crystal for the next evening at our house. I heard a crackling sound coming from the kitchen. I knew that I wasn’t cooking that evening…so as I entered the kitchen I saw about a foot of smoke undulating at the ceiling above the door to the garage. I went outside and found the wall between the house and the garage aflame. Quick-thinker that I am, I…

  • Being Human - Fear - This really happened. - Travelling

    Ben & Rob & Bear

    June 4, 2017 - By 

    It was just one of those beautiful mornings in early June in the way, way North…the kind of day which starts out bright at 5 – and just gets brighter. It was yesterday. They had hired a Guide, Ben and Rob did. He was “Big Jim”. Someone to teach them fly-fishing in the Canadian Rockies. So there they were, in hip waders, in streams. Just a flick of the wrist, it is said. There is a rhythm to it – flick forward and back. And back again. The sparkling sun on the water. Standing, standing. Standing for a bit longer. Nothing…

  • Being Human - Family - For fun. - Light - This really happened. - Travelling

    But oh, the ice fields!

    June 1, 2017 - By 

    Among the adventures I have always wanted but never told was to be here, where I am. When we drove up we saw elk and moose and snow on the peaks.  This, of course, ridiculous because I am so relieved that at home things are finally green and blooming and spring….but the snow on the mountains still makes me go “ahhhhhhh”. After yesterday’s odd restaurant encounter we decided to try the evening at the hot springs….and it turns out that I am old and fussier than I used to be about germs….and now I understand that I am truly a…

  • Being Human - Differences - Family - Food - This really happened. - Travelling

    The Canadian Ukrainian.

    June 1, 2017 - By 

    It was late afternoon and we hadn’t eaten since early morning.   We were driving the TransCanadian highway and came to Canmore. We were super starving. Oh, I said, pointing….let’s eat at that place. The building was golden yellow which is sometimes a good idea and there was parking. And outside — a jackhammer.   Like a machine gun…but with more concrete dust. We walked into the restaurant.    Also yellow.     Oilcloth table covers and green chairs.    The owner was trying to drown out the jackhammer by playing loud music:  “sexual healing”. The white board advertised Bison…

  • Being Human - This really happened.

    But for the regrettable absence of appropriate shape wear.

    May 21, 2017 - By 

    Last week I took the stage at the Madison production of Listen to your Mother (www.listentoyourmother.com) courage in hand, and told a story of aging and self-acceptance. I actually said that “stretch marks are the evidence that we have stretched ourselves for others…” — yet in the days immediately following that amazing day — and when the pictures came out — I was perseverating on the fact that I looked lumpy in my dress, that I looked intense and…tense…and was thinking how I could edit the beautiful work of Melissa Austin Photography so that I could look better, younger, on…

  • Being Human - Difficulty - Fear - Loss - This really happened.

    The S Word

    April 13, 2017 - By 

    She gave me permission to write this. We were all sitting on the couch watching the end of the basketball game. She, and the young one, and I. She looked at the vase of flowers and said, as Northwestern was losing the game, “Hey, those need more water”. She started to get off the couch, said she was dizzy, her legs collapsed under her. I caught her. I’ll get more water for the flowers, I said. Something didn’t feel right. I re-watered the flowers, hurried to the cabinet in search of a blood pressure cuff. It was over 180. Way…

  • Blessings - Light - This really happened. - Travelling

    The Taxi-Driver’s Tale.

    April 9, 2017 - By 

    When the taxi arrived the driver was anxious to share with me that he was from Lebanon – and that his mother died three years ago. He told me that she died alone, in a dark room, hastened by the neglect of his sisters and this, he would never forget. He wanted me to know that he believed in Karma. That he believed in Kindness. He said that with Karma there is no guarantee that things will come back to you…”but you never know,” he said. I wouldn’t say that he was the most careful driver, weaving a bit between…

  • For fun. - This really happened.

    The Curry Walk

    March 9, 2017 - By 

    I am telling this story against my better judgement. But apparently, it wants to be told.    Special thanks to P for letting me tell it. So. She heard from a colleague that it probably wasn’t a good idea for her to buy that house because he had heard that it was haunted.    Pish posh.    The house was gorgeous.   They bought it. It was pretty soon after they moved into the house that their little boy was having trouble sleeping.   He mentioned the “grandfather” who was singing to him in his room. He bounced early in the…

  • Darkness - Difficulty - Loss - This really happened. - Travelling

    The birkenau.

    October 16, 2016 - By 

    Last month I had the privilege of going to Berlin.  It was my first time there.  Although I was still walking with my cane (aka The Wooden Leg Named Smith), I took advantage of an opportunity for a (five-hour!) walking tour to learn about Berlin’s history. Here is one story I learned. We were in the cafe courtyard of an art museum — and there we saw two modestly-sized fenced areas.   Planted within those two enclosures were bunches of birch-tree saplings.   Here was an art installation…of birch saplings. During World War II, around 1940, the Nazi leadership realized…

  • Blessings - Safety - This really happened.

    My Uber driver kissed me and it wasn’t even creepy.

    May 15, 2016 - By 

    I wasn’t looking for drama.   I really wasn’t. But that morning they left me at the table, reading the paper.  I finished the puzzle. I did the Jumble.   Took me almost no time at all. It was a good day. I pushed away from the table and stood up, putting all my weight on my right foot — not realizing that I could not feel it and that my foot had dropped….and stepped onto the top surface of my foot, upside down.    I heard a crack. I screamed. I threw myself onto the couch, elevating my foot.…

  • Being Human - For fun. - This really happened.

    Tea, Karma and Paying It Forward

    March 4, 2016 - By 

    This week for my birthday I wanted to do something special… for someone else. I figured, eh, why not…?  I didn’t really need a treat so I thought I would treat someone else.   Now recently I haven’t gone to any coffee or tea houses — I have been choosing, instead, to have all my drinks from home.     Breaking a habit, you might say. But….for the first time since the beginning of the year I had to pick up tea in a disposable cup — and I stopped at SB….in the drive-thru lane. I ordered one Venti Emperor’s…

  • Being Human - Blessings - For fun. - Hope - This really happened.

    On inspiration’s expiration’s inspiration.

    May 5, 2015 - By 

      I recently read a piece from Maya Angelou: she said that although she had a large house, she retained a hotel room in town.   On the desk of the room she had only a deck of cards, crossword puzzles and a pad of paper—and a pen.   She would take herself out of her comfort and her distractions and would sit and pretend to play solitaire – to trick herself into writing. Reading this was an enormous comfort to me. Here I am thinking that once I stake my flag in the sand saying that I will always be brilliant…

  • Being Human - Blessings - Darkness - Difficulty - Hope - Light - Safety - This really happened. - Travelling

    The Lost Mariners and Almost Missing Maui

    April 26, 2015 - By 

    I heard the most amazing story. There was a cruise ship – and a Greek captain – and two mariners. And some passengers. But I think the star of this story is a thing that is not on any map. More on that later. There is a cruise ship – and it is sailing North towards Hawaii. One morning one passenger gets up early, as he loves to do on these trips. He gets up at five – and consults the map.   He finds that the ship is not headed North at all. It has done an about-face…..it is heading South.…