The kids had long left the nest and we had settled into a relatively quiet semi-retirement. Looking back, I guess it must have been too quiet for Joanna! A couple years before, our daughter had been given a cute little pug she named Zoe. Joanna fell in love with that dog, and just had to have one of her own. My…
Time Flies!
How time flies! In 2013, I decided to ditch my Windows-based computer; buy a MacBook and go all Apple. The other day, I bought and tried to load TurboTax onto it. No luck! It required a version of MacOS that wasn’t available for my 11y/o model! I’ve read Apple considers a 7y/o as non-supportable. I consider myself lucky to have…
The Greek Key
There are many names for the Greek Key pattern. These include Greek Fret, Labyrinth, Maze, and the Meander pattern. The latter named after the 250-mile-long Meander River in modern-day Turkey. Its unbroken, interlocking pattern makes it a symbol for infinity or the eternal flow of things. Since it’s a sign of continuation, the symbol is often associated with friendship, love,…
Good News
Last week I went for the 2nd in a series of 3 “gel” injections to relieve the pain of a torn meniscus in my left knee. I struck up a conversation with the nurse who was prepping the knee. Even though we were on opposite ends of the political spectrum, we were able to have a sane, friendly discussion. We…
Pause
For a couple reasons I hit the “pause button” and haven’t posted anything since June 2022. Upon reading the most recent post, Past Present Future, my eldest granddaughter asked, “Do you have plans to turn your blog posts into print?” I told her that I’d thought of doing that “some day.” I really dreaded the work it would take to get the posts into a publisher-friendly format. Megan’s…
Past Present Future
A few things have happened lately which have me reminiscing about the past and looking toward to the future. I thought Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali’s 1931 iconic The Persistence of Memory [at the top of the page] was a good way to visibly depict my mood. I’ve superimposed the title of this post onto it. The general interpretation of…
Prada
A line in the morning’s itinerary caught my eye: “We take a mid-morning break at the Prada Store in Marfa.” We were on an 8-day mainly hiking trip in the very dry and remote Chihuahuan Desert in southwest Texas. What’s with the Prada store? I learned from our guides, and some additional research after I returned home, that Marfa, TX…
Not Invincible
As the world locked down for the better part of 2020, most of us eagerly awaited the vaccines that would help us conquer Covid-19. In my post, Out of Hibernation, I described my semi-hermit inactivity during that time and my feeling of “liberation” when the vaccines became available in January of 2021. Later that year, after having my second shot,…
Listening To My Body
Going into my senior year of high school, my dad wasn’t very happy with me. Over the summer of that year, I announced I’d taken up smoking. To complicate the matter, it was the same time he decided to kick his habit! No matter how hard he cajoled me, my young mind would not budge. As the habit ran its…
Bert & Ernie’s Road Trip
As readers of this blog know, I’m on a quest to visit as many US National Parks as I can. Although this story is about the three NPs I recently visited, it’s much more than that. It’s about two guys who’ve lost their wives, but are committed to living to the fullest the years they have left. They know that’s what their…
Old Swedish Housewife
When my kids first saw the photo at the top of this page, each had a different reaction. Kristin said, “I’ve been waiting for this pic!!!.” Rob said, “Thanks for the explanation. At first glance I thought you might be going to a Halloween party dressed up like an old Swedish housewife.” Obviously my daughter knew what was going on;…