On deadline day for November 7, you would have found me in the usual tug-of-war with suitable subjects. Unpredictability won. That’s a broad concept for one tiny column, but while it posed in the winner’s circle, I typed a few of my rambling thoughts about it....

Do you realize “Happy Halloween” is hardly a global greeting? Of the 195 countries in the world, as counted by the UN and reported by BBC Science Focus, 37 of them celebrate a holiday on October 31, according to World Population Review. (I’m avoiding referencing AI)...

“The conveyor belt of life” came across a podcast I was listening to. More often I’ve heard about the “hamster wheel” of life. I suppose they are illustrations that could be used interchangeably, but maybe not and be accurate...

Whew! “Hectic” describes the morning I thought I’d have. It turns out the hurrying and scurrying was only in my head, in anticipation of a visit to the vet with the last of my four furry felines. I even pulled on a heavy misshapen sweatshirt as scratch prevention for the hullabaloo that was sure to ensue...

Do you want to while away the hours pondering the imponderable? Consider the definition of time. I don’t mean clock time. That’s not a biggie, unless you’re taking time to explain to someone how to tell time on an analog clock. You will hear the inevitable “Why worry with that when we have screens to tell us?” by someones who are getting increasingly older...

We get stuck in unexplainable ruts sometimes, but marketers have it figured out. It’s not unusual to see Christmas in July sales, and coffee shops have us craving pumpkin lattes in August, way ahead of the seasons and holidays when those dishes are featured...

Stay curious. One comes across that suggestion often when reading about keeping the brain and body healthy and active. Maintaining curiosity poses no problem for me. That’s not exactly the case with other “aging gracefully” tips like walking more and eating enough fiber. They take a bit of planning...

(Apologies to my friend and fellow columnist, a fishing fanatic. Check out A Good Word this week.) Here’s the trouble with fishin’ as I see it. *The simple way never worked for me - bamboo pole, line and bait - because I couldn’t get the hang of throwing the line where the fish were. It always became tangled in a branch above or under water. I wasn’t much luckier with a rod and reel...

You’ve heard “neurons that fire together wire together.” That explains how we learn isolated steps of the Achy Breaky, then put them together to line dance. 120 years ago Henry James alluded to the brain’s malleability, but it didn’t get much attention until 1948 when that characteristic received a name – neuroplasticity – thanks to Polish neuroscientist Jerry Konorski. ...

“Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half have never voted for President. One hopes it’s the same half.” That’s a Gore Vidal quote from the 1992 publication of three of his Harvard University lectures titled “Screening History.”...

We’ve had a few days lately that beckoned me to roll windows down, turn volume up and head off to nowhere in particular. Early in retirement I eagerly accepted that enticement regularly and took off with two must-haves for the frivolity: (1) mad money for snacks/gas (coins from purses/pockets and couch cushions), and (2) a bra for decency when handing over the clinking cash on those snacks/gas stops...

Transitions dominate hearts and minds as first-day-of-school photos pop up on social media. These days tug at heartstrings but not all reactions are created equal. Intensities of emotions vary immensely. I gauge them by personal experiences...

Technically it’s still summer and it will be until the autumnal equinox on September 22, so we have a month of days to cool off with ice cream treats. Or we’re supposed to have. Mother Nature must be getting antsy for all things pumpkin spice since our days and nights are unusually cooler right now...

Indubitably… *An earworm buried in your brain will surface when another mentions one taunting them. *You won’t have to “go” until ten minutes after hitting the road. *The older I get the more often I return to and find a misplaced item in the first place I looked....

Jumbled, bizarre, erratic, insane - terms used to describe the “crazy” part of crazy quilt. That term popped into my head as I looked at clothing in the far corner of a closet. The various fabric, colors and decorations would make interesting shapes to use...

“The wave of the future is coming and there is no fighting it.” That was written by Anne Morrow Lindbergh in her book "Gifts from the Sea" published in 1955. She penned her inspirational meditations and musings during a solo getaway to Captiva Island off the coast of Florida. She contemplated modernization, bemoaning time-saving gadgets that complicated life rather than simplifying it and pondered the escalating busy-ness that diminished family dynamics...

“I’ll never get anything done if that phone keeps ringing!” “Look at the line!” “Wanna go shopping with me?” Expressions from another lifetime, one with periods of exasperation and burnout due to overwhelming responsibilities, ill-timed interruptions and despair for circumstances beyond my control...

As much as I’d like to tout the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis as the birthplace of the ice cream cone, ‘t’aint so. Eight years earlier, according to the International Dairy Foods Association, that favorite summertime treat appeared in NYC thanks to an Italian who had emigrated to the US. Italo Marchiony was his name and he received a patent in 1903 for this popular invention...

John Adams believed July 2 would be the day America commemorated its independence. In a letter to his wife Abigail, he wrote, “July 2 will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.” He believed there should be “pomp and parade, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other.”...

Before the June page of the 2024 calendar is flipped, I will have been on the earth seven decades plus. What a trip! When I was born: *Television programming was black and white and didn’t offer shows 24/7. Family time around the set on Saturday nights was special - complete with popcorn and RC Cola. What did we watch? Why, Lawrence Welk and Wrestling, of course!...