Juggling Being a Baby Boomer, I generally have a confusion (not so much a barrier as true confusion) over gender fluidity. I identify as him/he if I must declare, but I have yet to include that on any proper titling or letterhead the way it is becoming standard for people in the groove of modernity. My youngest son is producing a short play that is entirely about a very gender fluid situation with a gender-bimodal…
It’s Raining, It’s Pouring Here we are in the middle of August and I’m putting on extra clothes for warmth. That’s right, its turned suddenly downright chilly on the hilltop at 62 degrees. It will be in the 90’s again next week, so I’m just going to enjoy it. Naturally, this was the day I planned for a team of laborers under the direction of Handy Brad to lay out the DG paths and spread…
Made in the Shade I am half Slovak and half Italian in origin. Since I was raised by my mother and like to think that I am following more in her footsteps than those of my father, I always feel more Slovak than Italian. That said, I did live in Rome, Italy for three years of high school, a very formative period in anyone’s life and I do more-or-less speak Italian. I am very comfortable…
Every Which Way But Sideways It’s Sunday night and today was a very lazy day on the hilltop for both Kim and me. I put in some time on my expert case and before I knew it it was almost 10am on another perfect San Diego summer morning. Mid-80’s with lots of sun and no humidity (ho-hum, just the usual). My agenda was to get the plants I bought yesterday down the hillside to the…
Shortening Life For years we all lived with the fears of the two-headed health monster snatching us before our prime. While it is probably hard to deny that both heart disease and cancer are strongly genetically-linked, I always considered heart disease to be a lifestyle disease and cancer a genetically-predispositioned disease. I can almost hear the uncomfortable rustling of people who immediately disagree with my characterization for some personal experiential reason. We all have friends…
A Secret Failure They say that success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. I’m going to guess that nobody who is reading this story has ever bothered to figure out who first uttered that phrase. It is one of those pithy credos that gets made into posters and etched into rocks that are sold to people to hold down papers on their desk with all the other kitschy things they’ve accumulated over their…
Back to School Over the weekend, I spoke to my daughter, who has spent the majority of the summer (the last six weeks since school let out) at our family home, Homeward Bound, in Ithaca. We were there with her and her family for the first week or so and then we headed back West. She stayed on and lived the life of fireflies, lunch in the pool for the kids, husband John doing his…
On Becoming an Elephant When it rains it pours. We’ve all heard that many times in our lives. What hasn’t been so well acknowledged is that when it does rain and therefore does pour, it does so even harder when you have planned a parade or a picnic. My retirement has been in process for twenty months now and the four primary activities I brought to the table to give me at least transitional purpose…
The House of the Rising Sun My sleep patterns leave a lot to be desired. I am blessed at the age of 67 to be without significant maladies. I take medication for high blood pressure, but they seem to work well in keeping me at a BP level that is normal and apparently without major health complications. I do not suffer from reflux or any of the other annoying gastrointestinal problems that often plague aging…
Reminding Myself Every Day It’s hard these days to not think about the good and the bad in people. The polarization of political views is inextricably caught up in a series of values that cut very deep into all of our consciousness. Regardless of which way you lean, it is clear your angle of lean has increased a great deal of late. You may not have changed your beliefs at all, but the chances are…