dog days of February

  Finally, the puppy we’ve been waiting for has arrived!  On Valentine’s day, when these pictures were taken, he was … More

crone chronicles

  I’m writing this post to my daughters, those beautiful middling-age women who grace my life, who still carry the bloom … More

set point

  Be Humble I read not too long ago that when the first Tibetan lamas came to North America to … More

good enough

To my horror, I’ve just read that people can spend years and years working on a single literary oeuvre. Years, already. … More

puppy tales [part 2 of 2]

  Early into our visit to Howling Pines Kennels  a few weeks ago, I discovered that Nicole, the breeder, is … More

puppy tales [part 1 of 2]

  Sometime in the next month or so, Younger Son and his lovely wife will become the proud parents of … More

new beginnings

A new year is like a blank book, and the pen is in your hands. May your story be a … More

the passing of a year [the crone speaks]

And so another year falls away, into the midden heap of empty promises, failed resolutions, tender hopes and expectations that never … More

A good Jewish family…

I have a dear friend living in the southern U.S., who posts regularly on her blog–one I follow not only … More

…And to all a good night

Gloria in Excelsis Deo

Bleed, on warfarin

The thing is, you see, blood thinners prevent blood from clotting. That’s their job. They do it well. Great for … More

Word play

True haiku is a Japanese verse in three lines, a mood poem that uses no metaphors or similes. The first … More

Telephone chronicles

This week I was reflecting back on our long-ago days of active parenting.   It’s amazing, really, how quickly  we forget … More

Thin-skinned

This poem speaks to those of us who are entering or living the years of the crone, who are hoping … More

The world’s happiest man

Matthieu Ricard, son of French philosopher Jean-François Revel and well-known French artist and Tibetan Buddhist nun Yahne le Toumelin, is himself … More

Under the weather

“Under the weather.”   An odd phrase, that, but ever so much nicer than saying “I feel like crap.”  It’s  not a … More

For My Father

Wikipedia:  Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic inflam-matory disorder that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks flexible … More

Thin air

We streak along this narrow asphalt ribbon into the stratosphere, zig-zagging through switchbacks, slipping around hairpin curves designed by mountain goats … More

Self-Portrait

This body seems sometimes a cramped apartment owned by an absentee landlord in which I live uneasy, a renter soon … More

Those heart-breaking, head-aching, middle-of-the-nighttime blues

Oh, groan. I got absolutely no sleep last night. I’m going to be a zombie by noon. I was bug-eyed … More

Back on the radar

Since May 9, it’s been.  I’m back in the world after over four months spent living the life of a … More

Preview: what I did on my summer holidays…

I keep having this feeling that I’d better get some major house-cleaning done. I’ve had feelings like this plenty of … More

David Brooks: The Moral Bucket List

There’s a theme emerging in much of what I’m reading these days, as it becomes ever clearer to us all that … More

Eulogy

  Some eleven years ago now, an Alaskan Malamute puppy tugged at our hearts the first time we ever laid eyes … More

Spring creeper

Raw and sensitive as a newly-closed wound that tingles to the touch, I creep into this bright new day, a … More