I miss Alex

My friend Alex died in March. Today is his birthday. His adult children are in California, and there has been no service locally to honor him… That saddens me, as he had so many fabulous friends in this area who will remember him always for his kind and generous...

Point Taken

In my last post, I posed a typical “Catch 22” question concerning the fate of this blog. And I have now thanked each and every one of the readers who responded for their thoughtful replies in a private email. You’re the best! And so this blog will continue to appear,...

To Coin a Phrase

Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22” opened in movie theaters on this date in 1970. It starred Alan Arkin, Jon Voight and Orson Welles. “You mean there’s a catch?” “Sure there’s a catch,” Doc Daneeka replied. “Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn’t really...

It’s a mixed blessing

Ah, summer! Today is the first full day of the season, and just letting the word roll softly off my tongue conjures up all sorts of happy childhood memories. Summer! The joyous, carefree days of youth! The “shed your shoes and run barefoot in the grass” kind of...

Not Good Enough?

Growing up, Sally Ride wanted to be a professional tennis player. Deciding she “wasn’t good enough,” she became a physicist instead and joined NASA in 1978 as part of the first astronaut class to accept women. On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride became the first American...