Trust as a Four Letter Word We have a convention in this country that only partially or barely exists in many other countries. We buy life insurance. Initially, it is sold to us (note that I say sold TO us as opposed to bought BY us or sought out BY us) as a responsible way for us breadwinners to ease our guilt with the dependence we have created for our families on our income earning…
Getting Pickled I am writing this story on Sunday night, knowing that it will publish on Wednesday morning. That timing is relevant since when most people read this, Kim and I will be off getting pickled. Couples in retirement have many different ways of operating. In general I think it is fair to say that most couples try to balance individual activities with couples activities. It’s really not good to operate like working couples who…
Words and Pictures I have stumbled on a movie tonight that has happened at a moment when I have realized that after being ahead of myself on these stories for a dry long time, I have run the kettle dry. I just published a story for tomorrow morning and have to get a jump on Saturday’s story and then Sunday’s, etcetera, etcetera. How unusual that I should stumble on this particular movie staring Clive Owen…
Back on the Hilltop We flew in from Florida yesterday and I cannot express how good it felt to get back home. I know that especially as we age, we become more inclined to being homebodies, but in addition to that and being around all my “stuff” (as the great George Carlin would say), I have also genuinely come to love the climate and environs of our San Diego hilltop. I have spent my life…
Life As I Know It It is the morning of January 6, 2022, so I am both keeping an eye on the news for any important developments, but at the same time I do not want to engross myself in the ongoing and continuous rehashing of the January 6th Insurrection that took place a year ago today. It is less that I don’t want to hear it or want to somehow ignore it, but rather…
The Chateaux of My Mind This morning I am waking up in a lovely French Chateaux on a small tributary of the Loire River. I expect to see a riverboat with wine country tourists lounging on its deck coming past any minute. No, wait, why is there an egret high-stepping through the mangrove roots, they don’t have mangroves in France. Oh yeah, this particular Chateaux is not in the Loire Valley. I am on John’s…
Early to Rise As I have thought many times, I am both blessed and cursed with an overactive mind. I have read up on sleep patterns and all the ancient proverbs about sleep and they all gravitate to the theme that it is healthier and more productive to set a pattern of sleep such that you go to bed earlier and rise earlier. Some say this is the wisdom of Ben Franklin, some say it…
Weather or Not For as long as I can remember, I have advised myself and others that the selection of a long-term or retirement residence should be based on those people closest to one’s soul. They may be parents, siblings, children or friends, the circumstances of and social conventions of one’s particular family will likely set the priorities or preferences. But the choice of retirement home is even more challenging than, say, any other residence…
The House in the Clouds Twenty-six years ago, Keanu reeves made a little movie that didn’t get much attention, only scores a 6.7 on the IMDB index and co-starred Anthony Quinn and Giancarlo Giannini. It was Alfonso Arau’s (the guy who made Like Water for Chocolate and Three Amigos) A Walk in the Clouds. It tells the story of a man who meets a woman in need after he returns from WWII. She is part…
Back on the Chain Gang The house has cleared out of the holiday visitors and tomorrow is the start of the last week of the year for 2021. New Years Day will be next Saturday and my agenda consists of one massage on Wednesday and that’s it. We don’t leave for Florida until the end of the following week, so there isn’t even much to prepare for just yet. My last semester course ended, has…