• A Great Lady

    All of us hope that our choices and our actions will make a little sweeter those rooms we enter, those worlds we move through, those lives we touch, those people and places we leave behind us. It is, in a way, our small gesture toward immortality, our little message to the universe. It says, “I…

  • I’m OK

    When admiring other people’s gardens, don’t forget to tend to your own flowers. Sanober Khan In 1967, the self-help book, I’m OK-You’re OK by Thomas A. Harris was published. In 1972, it made the New York Times Best Seller List and remained there for almost two years.The premise is that a large part of the…

  • Non

    Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough. Josh Billings When I saw this scarf displayed at a Dior exhibit, I couldn’t resist taking a photo. The French have elevated saying non to an art form. Just three letters, two in English.…

  • The Afternoon Knows

    The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected. Robert Frost This portrait of me, by Hendrik Grise, sits on the mantle above the fireplace. It moved around the condo for a few years and eventually, settled where it is now. I have considered moving it to a less visible location. Nevertheless, it remains where it…

  • A Line at a Time.

    Step by step, moment be moment, we live through another day. Anne McCaffrey Every weekday morning, I follow the same routine. I start with a cup of coffee and, if I remembered to buy them at Trader Joe’s, a pain au lait au chocolat. Otherwise, I settle for a piece of toast. I watch the…

  • The Juggler

    Most of us have trouble juggling. The woman who says she doesn’t is someone whom I admire but have never met. Barbara Walters When I was working full-time along with taking care of my family, home and what seemed like a million other responsibilities, I dreamt of juggling multitudes of balls around and around in…

  • Optimism

    We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Oscar Wilde We were at the Botanic Gardens Monet Pool enjoying the tranquility surrounding us, when, suddenly, clouds covered the sun and fat drops of rain began to hit the water with a big splash. Behind the clouds, the sun’s…

  • Treasured Books

    Isn’t it odd how much fatter a book gets when you’ve read it several times? As if something were left between the pages every time you read it. Feelings, thoughts, sounds, smells, and then, when you look at the book again many years later, you find yourself there too, a slightly younger self, slightly different,…

  • Challenges

    There is always a gift in any challenge. Bronnie Ware. Life is made up of challenges. Some small, some catastrophic. Let me begin with telling you this comes under the small category. My hope is in facing challenges, of any size, we are able to learn something through the experience. A couple of months ago,…