The drive from Lake Charles, Louisiana to DeRidder, Louisiana is only forty-five minutes long. When I was a child, it seemed to take hours. Farm fences displayed brightly colored ads for Brylcreem hair pomade and Barbasol shaving cream. The colorful signs provided a break in the monotony for our carload of restless children, as the […]
It’s About Time Time has been on my mind lately. I’ve become increasingly conscious of how it means different things to different people, and of how its value fluctuates depending on context. My siblings have wildly different relationships with the concept of time. One sister will say, “I’ll be coming over in a little while
Vexations and Conundrum – April 2024 Read More »
Chop Chop True wisdom comes to people not at some stage of life, but in tiny little lightning bolts throughout life. Sometimes a teenager will say something that a much older person hadn’t thought of. Or a toddler will blurt out the most marvelously brilliant observation, missed by all adults present. Then there are the
Vexations and Conundrum – March 2024 Read More »
Manifest It I was enjoying a glass of wine with my son and a work friend of his, when his friend shared with me an interesting experience he had with his son. He was putting him to bed and decided to teach him an important life lesson. He chose the subject of how we behave
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No More Talking An etiquette change stealthily crept into our daily lives and I was caught off guard. Out of nowhere, texting has almost replaced voice communication. This development feels regressive. Short written communications leave much to be desired. No backstory is given, no current state of affairs. That amount of detail would take too
Vexations and Conundrums – January 2024 Read More »
Fake Smart I have encountered a new frustration that would not have existed years ago. I’m sure many of you have run into this issue as well. Businesses have reduced personnel and automated functions. Obstacles now stand in the way of getting things accomplished. For example, your bank statement arrives and there is a charge
Vexations and Conundrum – December 2023 Read More »
There I have this feeling that something is imminent, like the awareness one feels when a very distant train whistle blows as it approaches a railway crossing and train tracks are visibly close. My senses are alert. I do not want to be caught unaware. Yet I have been in a state approaching denial. The
Vexations and Conundrum – November 2023 Read More »
Socially Perplexed In the past, my husband and I attended some interesting parties, usually for charitable functions. In those times, we loved to dress up and support any number of cultural and educational causes. We enjoyed meeting new people who shared our interests. Along the way, we had surprising things happen to us. We enjoyed
Vexations and Conundrums – October 2023 Read More »
Suleiman Several years ago, my husband and I went on one of those small (50 feet) yacht trips with several other couples. Our destination was Turkey, and from there we were going to sail around outlying Greek islands. We would be gone for over ten days. Our first surprise was that our promised sailboat had
Vexations and Conundrum – September 2023 Read More »
Spotlight Article One of the gifts of life in the towns on the north shore of Lake Chapala is the proliferation of local food markets. Vendors of homegrown vegetables and homemade food delights can be found throughout the week at varying locations. I used to live right by one of these popular markets and made
PROFILE – Conversations With A Culinary Maven Read More »
