Be Here Now. The title of Baba Ram Dass’s 1971 book became the catch phrase for millions of westerners seeking enlightenment through eastern spiritual practices, including yoga and meditation. But being in the present moment, letting go of the past and future, has always been challenging to me—until now, in the age of COVID-19. Over… [Read More]
Sunny and 75: a poem about my cheery outlook on life
I wrote this poem nearly two months ago on the day before my 76th birthday, and I hadn’t read it again till last Wednesday night, when I performed it at the Troy Poetry Mission, a monthly open mic at O’Brien’s restaurant in Troy. In mid-reading, I thought Jeez, this is pretty good, so I decided… [Read More]
The Endless Summer, or why I’m not back to work
Autumn arrives this Friday the 22nd at precisely 4:02 PM, Eastern Standard Time. I had vowed to buckle down and get serious about my Creative Crone book right after Labor Day, but two weeks have passed and I’m still stuck in summertime. Hardly surprising, since it’s four o’clock and 81 degrees in the shade. Clearly… [Read More]
The Luxury of Late Summer Lassitude
For the past few days, I’ve had every intention of writing something meaningful about Labor Day, but I was too busy being lazy. I told myself I had every right to wallow in sloth over the holiday weekend, but it’s three days later and I’m still wallowing. As a long-retired senior citizen, I’ve earned the… [Read More]
Celebrating Animals at Easter
This Easter Sunday, daffodils are blooming in the back yard where we buried our golden retriever Lucky in early autumn a few years ago. I planted his grave with daffodils, crocuses and hyacinths, and a couple of years later, we buried our cat Beep beside him. A decade or two from now, we’ll probably have… [Read More]
Dogs I’ve loved in life and fiction
Congratulations to Karen Walker, winner of my 50,000 hits contest. Though Karen lives across the country, we’ve shared a lot over the past year through the Blog Book Tours group. I invite you to visit her wonderful blog, Following the Whispers. Here’s the post I contributed to her blog for my Blog Book Tour last… [Read More]