Category: Uncategorized

Homes come in all shapes and sizes. Of course that statement is wrong. It’s houses that come in all shapes and sizes. Home comes in one size – and it fits in your heart. I’ve lived in my house for about 20 years. It’s comfortable. It’s predictable. I have history here. I could have a…

It’s helpful to have reminders to stay humble. Today’s Writer’s Almanac reminds us that on this date, Beryl Markham flew solo, westward, over the Atlantic – the first person to do so. The flight ended in Nova Scotia when she ran out of fuel and landed in a bog. Ms. Markham walked away from the…

When I lived in San Francisco in the early 80’s, I heard that the city’s school children took the municipal buses to school. I don’t know many people who’ve taken the bus on a trip. To a different town. To a different state. When I was about 13, my parents put me on the Greyhound…

Pilots use checklists. Checklists are sequences of steps to resolve a problem. Some are very lengthy and some are just a few words. While working on my instrument rating, the first thing a new instructor said to me was: “Tell me your emergency checklist.” I had no idea what he was fishing for. He suggested:…

When Violet, the Dowager Countess on Downton Abbey, speaks of the importance of good conversation, it seems trite in the Edwardian sort of way. But she’s right. I don’t remember many specific conversations we had as teenagers. What I remember is a sense of awe in both what you had to say, and how you…

I asked my AI friend, Claude, if it’s known why we remember some things – and not others. What’s amazing isn’t that what Claude replied, but how Claude said it. Someone remembered to include the “diplomacy” subroutine. I have photos on my kitchen wall. I put them up as a passive aggressive response to someone…

It’s funny how our dad knew. Both of us have special places in our hearts for our dads. Each of our dads gave us cautionary advice about partners. In hindsight, we might have been better off heeding it. But we both have stubborn streaks – and have a tendency to want to find out things…

One of my favorite lines from a movie is “50 years from now when you’re looking back at your life, don’t you want to say you had the guts to get in the car?” Everyone has moments in their life when this line might apply. Some more than others. But don’t these moments define our…

Sometimes things just fall into your lap. We met over 50 years ago – when we were both young, and mostly innocent. While I can’t remember many particulars about when we first met, your essence as a person was indelibly stamped in my psyche. With the benefit of youth, beauty alone might have made such…