Observations of an Octogenarian Optimist — 1 — Start positive. Finding one hopeful thing to focus on can kick-start anybody’s day, especially when there’s not a lot of hopeful going around. Finders keepers. 2 — Pay attention to Mother Nature. The planet needs help: turn off the water, turn the thermostat down if it’s winter and…

The sky is falling! Breaking news! Our fragile democracy in peril!! Life still feels shaky. Even without those constant, frenetic tweets threatening to alter the course of world events in moments, truth competes with fake news. Long-established rights and laws are questioned — or disappear before our eyes. …

This essay appears on the blog page of End of Life Choices CA, a nonprofit which I am proud to serve as a volunteer and board member. Perhaps you’ll visit the site, or at least find a little food for thought here. When is being comfortable and pain-free not a…

Nearly 70 years ago I survived an amateur abortion. On a kitchen table in a drab house in a down-at-the-heels neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. On a dreary February morning, the loneliest day of my life. Victim of workplace rape by a prominent man who had enormous power over me, I…

An impromptu artwork —

A tale of changing perspectives at going-on-90 My 90th birthday was staring me in the face; I was talking with an old friend, Sue, about recent travels. “ I may not be able to handle jet lag any more,” I said. “That was a lot of time zones,” she smiled…

The proliferation of stray cats in the alleyways of Rabat and Marrakech was both bewildering and fascinating. How do they survive? Where do they come from, and where do they go? Some were beautiful, some were downright mangy, some were pregnant with more cats.

A morality tale, of sorts, for our time — (NB — Key illustrations for this article were clipped from a video of the aftermath of the crime cited herein, taken from a safe distance. They may not be photographically wonderful, but surely you will get the idea.) If you plan to travel in Morocco, you might want to engage…

Snapshots of an introductory visit to Spain & Morocco — There’s something about rooftops, where you can look out over the city and see it anew. Currently I’m seeing actual new cities (wonderful old cities new to me) on a trip to Spain & Morocco. The above came with a view of the cathedral shining benevolently upon us all.