“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring The above line is from Gandalf of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. I know he’s a fictional character but Gandalf always seemed like a pretty …
Blood Pressure Maintenance
Our next presidential election is five seasons away but it seems that it’s always the political season. And in the political season, there are lots of potential situations where we can find ourselves getting into debates, whether we seek them out or they find us. Most of us would like to keep goodwill …
Playing Cards
My father loved to play cards. It seemed that he played every card game ever invented and I think he even created a few games of his own. One of his favorites was cribbage. Dad taught me to play cribbage when I was quite young. He may have thought that card playing was an …
Flawed Lying
In common conversations, we humans often say things we don’t mean and aren’t true. No harm is intended but we have odd ways of conversing at times. “How’s it going?” It’s the common question from the casual acquaintance in business, at the grocery store or at the gym. Of course the questioner is simply …
Spring Hopes Eternal
Yes, I know the title is backward. In some ways, though, it’s appropriate. Spring is the season of hope. Summer brings growth. Fall is a time to gather and prepare. Winter is a time of dormancy. But with spring, we experience a season that seems to start everything again from scratch. That’s a good thing. …
Most Likely to Succeed
High school yearbooks often contain a Hall of Fame section where seniors give awards to their classmates. “Nicest Smile”, “Most Angelic”, “Class Clown”, “Most Athletic”, and so forth. These Hall of Fame awards are given in fun but they do represent a reflection by high school seniors of the classmates with whom they have shared …
The Mad Hatter and the Trouble with Isms
If Lewis Carrol wrote a bit more about Wonderland, I wonder what may have been the subject of the perpetual tea parties that were the fate of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. I suspect that they may have formed a group of beliefs and called them an “ism”. Socialism, capitalism, feminism, egalitarianism, …
Denied Bigotry
It’s insulting and off putting to tell an unknown working class person that they are bigoted and to ignore their concerns. We all have bias and predetermined beliefs about groups of people. However, working class folks are no more, probably less bigoted or biased than the progressive “betters” talking down to the rubes. To accuse …
Escaping the Grip
Winter has seemed more cruel this year. We’ve had a record snowfall for February and the temperatures have usually been running 15-20 degrees colder than normal. Icy surfaces just won’t melt, even though the sun is getting stronger and our days are getting longer. It’s March now and we usually are in the height of …
Immigrant
Guest post by Max I’ve lived a pretty good life since my human family took me in as a puppy. My humans pet me, brush me, and feed me dog food. If I can work the sympathy look well enough, they even give me their food. They take me for walks and to the Great …
reflections of a flawed man 