The Hellish Handbasket

I have spent most of my life trying to define art . Before you scoff, I challenge you to define art . Go on, try it, I dare you. Is it beaut...

Last night I took a night off from daughter duty to attend an in-service (teacher training) at the local community college for which I occas...

I have fervent appreciation for the power of routines. Life is precarious, and precariousness is stressful. Routines hold us together. Routi...

Testing, testing. Howdy, Blogbots, are you reading me? How's it going? Having trouble breathing? I am. We had a little smoke from a gras...

When I was a young adult, I dressed to be noticed. Being in the garment industry, I felt I had a professional obligation to experiment with ...

Next Saturday is my mother's ninetieth birthday. Family is coming. The weather should be good. Not hot, not humid. (I feel for my sister...

Happy Independence Day, blogbots. I hope your Fourth of July celebration is . . . celebratory. If that is what floats your boat. Laser shows...

I spent almost ten years teaching business and general education courses to reluctant, resistant, and recalcitrant adult learners, many of w...

Howdy blogbots. Has this ever happened to you? You are busy grappling with whatever issue confronts you, no time to think. Then you take a b...

In recognition of my need to increase my income, last week I applied to a local home improvement box store to work as a part-time merchandis...

I rarely cry. I'm not prone to sobbing. When I do cry, though, to avoid prolonged sinus congestion, I try to get all my angst and sorrow...

The sewer construction recommenced at 7:00 a.m. this morning, ten yards outside my back door. A cacophony of gerunds ensued: banging, grumbl...

On Monday night I caught a cold. I don't remember the last time I had a cold. I had forgotten the misery generated by the drip, the scra...

Last weekend, four out-of-town friends came to Portland for a reunion. We were a small group, just six in all. Two locals served as drivers;...

I'm learning Spanish in preparation for moving to the desert.  Está  nublado y oscuro en mi cabeza hoy . On the dark side: Children deli...

I visit Mom every evening. Before I go out the door, I do what I can to ensure the place will be standing when I return. Is the heater off? ...

My mother's insurance company sends a nurse to visit Mom annually. I've sat in on several of these house calls. Yesterday Sherrie ar...