Year: 2016

Advice is prevalent, but where we get it from is essential. I was working for a very difficult boss. She was manipulative, moody, and deceptive, and could be downright mean. Soon after beginning this job, I wondered if I'd made the right … Read more

Perhaps you are enjoying a warm beverage right now. Are you sipping from a demitasse, mug, or tea cup? Each vessel is best suited to a certain purpose. A mug of Cuban coffee or espresso would overwhelm, while a demitasse of tea or … Read more

Almost a year ago, my wife got an azalea plant from one of our children for Mother's Day. It sat in front of a window where it got the early morning sun. Then suddenly during the summer, the outer ends of the branches started to wither, … Read more

I may be retired, but as so many "retireds" know, it doesn't mean that we are idle. It means that we have more time to do things that we want to do, or at least, we can choose what we will do. That, at any rate, is the theory. The reality … Read more

This weekend, many of us spring ahead in time one hour as we adjust our clocks to Daylight Saving Time. And as we do so, everything will seem a bit out of sync for a day or two. My dogs will give me an extra hour of sleep for a few days … Read more

One Sunday last month, I decided to watch a televised church service that I tune in to occasionally. I enjoy this particular pastor's sermons because they always deal with the challenges of everyday living. What made me listen that … Read more

Looking back on my childhood in Bermuda, I have some lovely memories of playing the organ in church. We lived next door to the church building. One day, the church doors were all locked, so I climbed in the window and made my way up to the … Read more

I wasn't always a physically active person and my body-image issues don't let me remember a time when I was completely happy with the way I looked. Yet, on a summer's day in 2009, I stepped on my scale to convince a disheartened friend … Read more

Listening to the evening news is enough to make me mad: a police officer who intentionally shoots and kills a man; a man who shoots his parents and then goes to a local business to kill his ex-girlfriend too; the woman who doesn't want … Read more

Since we moved into town a couple of years ago, I am now, when the weather permits, able to walk in a populated area of the town. Late last summer, on my walks, I would see a number of residences where the yards were not well kept. Some … Read more