Autumn is a time to share in the lessons of letting go
Heart-warming are the changing seasons of life. When I was a youngster, life was about winter, spring, summer and fall – and each season had its highlights, beginning with Santa Claus in the winter. As I grew older, I came to see winter, spring, summer and fall more properly – i.e., as the seasons of…
Never adrift, an elder sailor still navigating at 89
“Come for the sailing. Stay for the friendships.” If that sounds like the kind of invitation that might flourish on the Chesapeake Bay, it is. In fact, the “sailing and friendships” call-to-action is the moniker of Singles on Sailboats – known as SOS – a Chesapeake Bay organization that has thrived for more than 40…
Columbus Day celebrates “big idea” not just a person
Musical prodigy James Deacon once observed that “What you see depends not only on what you look at but also on where you look from.” In plain English, that might be called “perspective” or “point of view” or “frame of reference”. I thought of this last Monday as our family joined other Americans to celebrate…
Shared stories make lasting memories among the generations
Are you familiar with the Paw Patrol? Perhaps not, especially if you’re in your bonus years. In that case, I’ll bet you remember Disney’s Popeye the Sailor Man or Steamboat Willy. And who could forget Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner from Looney Toons? All these guys, plus Minnie Mouse and Olive Oyl, “performed”…
Engaging the next generation requires learning their language
Many of a certain age will remember the film, Grumpy Old Men. That was back in 1993 when two curmudgeonly neighbors, a cantankerous John Gustafson (Jack Lemmon) and a belligerent Max Goldman (Walter Matthau), were constantly at each other’s throat. Despite the constant nagging and bickering, Grumpy was a box office hit. Maybe it was…
July 4th gives voice to the ideas of America across generations
Today, we celebrate the Fourth of July, one of our nation’s favorite holidays. Measured by holiday air and automobile travel statistics, travel for Independence Day is rivaled only by Thanksgiving and exceeded only by the Christmas-New Years’ holiday, a time that, in some years, overlaps with the eight-day Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, helping to boost…
Plant a tree, water a flower, trim a perennial and change the world
Adm. William McRaven, a retired four-star and Navy SEAL – and retired Chancellor of the University of Texas System – used his commencement speech to the UT-Austin Class of 2014, to advise, “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.” McRaven, who directed the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin…
There’s no stopping the Showstoppers, not even the coronavirus
Three years ago, I dropped in on the South County Senior Center in Edgewater just to see what was going on. Though I was familiar with the Wiley Bates senior center in Annapolis – an impressive place with many benefits, from history and art classes to hot lunches, for area seniors – the south county…
The American Thanksgiving is likely to be different this year
Michael Lindell is a friend of mine. I’m not talking about Minnesota’s Michael Lindell who is seen daily on TV promoting “My Pillow” – the one with the Giza cotton. I’m talking about Michael Lindell, the Australian cartoonist, the one who signs his work “Mikko”. During the nearly four years I lived in Australia (2005-08),…
Berkman’s “lifequake” sent him on a mission to end prison slavery
Just when everything seems to be going smoothly, life sometimes hits you in the head with a brick: cancer, a heart attack or other life-threatening illness; the loss of a loved one; a business failure or financial crisis; a physical disability, depression or other mental health challenge. Most of us have had our share of…