How do you know when you’re old? Is there a moment when you’re better off acknowledging this fact, or should you keep trotting along not paying much attention to where you are on the age spectrum? If you are at least approaching whatever “old” is, are you seeing more and more differences between yourself and the ever-increasing number of people who are, at least physically, “young”? In this lead-up to Thanksgiving, when many of us will be (with any luck) … Read More
Here in New England, August has served up some glorious weather. Those sweltering days in July — June was no picnic, either — needed to be endured, first. If last week and weekend were basketball, we got nothing but net: swish. Apparently the term “dog days of summer” refers specifically to the period between July 3rd and August 11th. For those of us with actual dogs, though, there’s no time limit, and no requirement on high degrees of heat, either. … Read More
I’m giving this one over to Father’s Day. Most likely, you’ve been doing some reflecting on your dad today, too. As my husband Rob — father of our three kids and also sometimes called “Father” by members of his flock — drives back home after marrying a couple yesterday in the Adirondacks, I’m thinking about all that he does to support this family. I’m also considering the slim sliver of time, over 30 years ago, that he had to get … Read More
The title I just chose reminds me of a hit song back in the mid-80’s by the group Simply Red — you may remember it — called “Holding Back the Years.” That had a mournful sound to it, swirling with a kind of regret; I’m aiming for a more cheerful tone here. Sometimes the best presents are gifts that, in a certain way, give you back something you once had. Nobody (except maybe in a movie) can peel back the … Read More
While I’m tempted to embark upon a continuation of my last topic – about the cleansing of our basement as an Advent activity (because there have been exciting new developments there) – I will refrain and move on to something new. What I’ll serve up today, firmly in the realm of contrasts, has to do with how, with the passage of time, a certain kind of thing can become an almost completely different kind of thing. OK, that’s just bland. … Read More
Bombarded with messages from Out There about needing to get going in the Christmas department, I got up my nerve and asked my daughter a couple of weeks ago, “Can you sometime send me a quick list of things that you could actually use?” I might have predicted the answer; it came almost before I’d finished uttering the question. “Mom, please, I can’t deal with any more STUFF!” Still a few years shy of 30, she’s already arrived at the … Read More
Ten whole years: depending how you look at it, this is a huge expanse of time, enough to bring momentous changes, or just a heartbeat in the life of a planet or sometimes even a person. As the U.N. Climate Change Conference — COP26 — draws to a close in Glascow, with fresh new commitments amid plenty of serious worries, it’s interesting to note that back in 2011, COP17 was held in Durban, South Africa. Over the past decade, we’ve … Read More
What’s “old” to you? How distinct is the difference between someone in this category and someone on the next rung down, say, “approaching old”? My mother preferred the word “elderly” to describe most anyone over the age of 80 — and the great-aunts and uncles were close by. The word had a gentler sound to her, I think. And then she herself arrived there, a fact which must mean that I’m soon to follow. This, we learn, is how life … Read More
It’s February 14th — about the only day in the whole year when taking a fall, or the memory of having taken one, can be considered a good thing. Why is it, anyway, that we talk about “falling in love”? The image conjures up someone keeling over into some kind of all-encompassing, mushy, welcoming substance; or maybe jumping into a pit filled with big, blue rectangles of foam, as I’ve done once or twice when I’ve taken kids to one … Read More
Over the past six months of the pandemic, we’ve heard the term “Alone Together” over and over again– for good reason, too. The whole time has brought such a weird mix of elements to our lives, and we need to keep reminding ourselves that, alongside the isolation we inevitably feel when cooped up and missing people who are dear to us, we are also in a shared experience that can break down barriers and generate power, even amidst terrible loss. … Read More