Memories flood your brain at the oddest times. They’re spontaneous and unbidden, random and fleeting. You may be tinkering in the kitchen, and thoughts of a childhood friend pop into your head. Raking leaves, and Grandpa’s car enters your mind. Reading a book like the new novel “An Elderly Lady Must Not…

You’re not using semaphore flags. Nope, what you’re saying is clear and concise, spoken in plain language, enunciated, not rushed. You’re not mumbling, you’re communicating as precisely as possible but as in the new book “I’ll Take Your Questions Now” by Stephanie Grisham, it’s possible, even still, that the message…

You had a sandwich for lunch again today. If you had to estimate, you’ve eaten thousands of those things over the last five years. Chicken sandwiches. Sandwiches with lunch meat. Sandwiches with a burger. Vegetarian sandwiches. Grilled cheese sandwiches, yeah, you could be in a rut. So tomorrow, why not try something different? Read “Gastro Obscura” by Cecily Wong…

Two plus two equals four. It’s one of the things you can’t deny. It’s a fact, no matter what. Another: change will occur. And: people will surprise you sometimes. These are things we hang out hats on, things that are immovable, like taxes and death. As in “Dare to…

Photo credit to Ecco. Your morning cuppa joe came from Hawaii last month. Mixed with a little milk from a farm upstate, it’s the perfect pick-me-up. When you add cereal from Iowa, grapefruit from Arizona, and a tiny bit of chocolate from Pennsylvania, you’re set…

The silence is intense. It was the first thing you noticed: no cars, no neighbors’ radios, no sirens, nothing but crickets and the sound of wind through leaves. The second thing you noticed were the stars because, without street lights, you can see them. Sometimes, you wish…

Your oversized plastic tote is all packed. You don’t want to think about it, but if you have to bug out, you can. A backup laptop, extra dog bowls, every irreplaceable document, it’s all there, ready to slide into the car. You can never be too careful when it’s…

The elephants were always your favorites. You’d practically grown up with pictures of them, but seeing them in person…? They were bigger than you thought they’d be. Enormous. Gigantic, and yet, so quietly distinguished. Your first circus experience was memorable because of them, and in “Battle for the…

photo credit to Terri Schlichenmeyer All last year, your soul heard a call. It was the outdoors, and while you got out as much as you could last year, it was never enough. You have a lot of catching up to do in your quest for…