We’ve been hammered with a rash of extreme weather conditions lately. We’ve experienced minus 35 degree temperatures, dangerous wind chill, freezing rain, fog and even plus temperatures. These fluctuations play havoc with road conditions even for those of us who’ve been driving a long time. The news media brings us information on road conditions and… Read more »
Either through design or default, odds are that at some point in our lives we will be alone. We can rail against the inherent unfairness of our circumstances or we can maximize the opportunity and blossom in the experience. At least part of the distinction of whether being alone will be tragic or terrific lies… Read more »
Spend any time at all with almost anyone and you’ll quickly discover that most of us worry. There are the biggies like cancer and job loss. There are the not-so-biggies like hail damage and sewer backups. There are the down-right itty-bitty ones like “will he call me” and “does my purse match my shoes?” To… Read more »
I’ve always been partial to dark-haired men with moustaches. I even married one. A coincidence? I think not. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are some very attractive men out there who don’t fit that narrow, even shallow stereotype. Right now for instance I happen to think Mike Holmes is the sexiest guy on TV…. Read more »
Do you remember those old westerns where some tough cowboy downed a swig (or two) of whiskey, grabbed some pliers and yanked out his own throbbing tooth? That’s how desperate I felt when the jaw pain that began in August escalated to the point it was waking me in the night. And making me cry…. Read more »
Every so often a song or a slogan or a book captures the attention of the masses with the simplicity or relevance or poignancy of its message. Eighteen years ago Robert Fulghum encapsulated his life message in a best seller called “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” The content may be… Read more »
Readers familiar with this space will remember a column called Doing Life’s Laundry. It covered the phenomenon of organizing and de-cluttering that’s become a cottage industry of television shows, books and magazine articles, professional organizers, and suppliers of organizational structures, containers and systems. Perhaps it’s the new pop psychology. Trying to understand why so many… Read more »
All of us put 2003 to bed in uniquely personal ways. Some, no doubt, polka-ed the night away. Others spent the evening at the movies with a tub of popcorn and Jack and Diane in “Something’s Gotta Give.” For those few souls who haven’t eaten their body weight in carbs in the past few weeks,… Read more »
One thing that distinguishes human beings from aardvarks, apple trees and apes is the ability to choose. To consciously, rationally, wisely choose life partners, homes, careers, what to eat for breakfast. Big or small the decisions are ours. As are the consequences. At no time is this ability to chart our own course, choose our… Read more »
In a calm, measured, almost dispassionate way, Reverend Dale Lang retold the story of his son’s murder to an audience in Andrew. Seventeen-year old Jason Lang had been shot at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, April 28, 1999 in his Taber, Alberta high school. It was eight days after the Columbine massacre. Lang recalled how that… Read more »