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Category Archives: Essays
I’ve learned — wisdom from Andy Rooney
Dear friends, What better way to rekindle our friendship, in celebration of National Friendship Week, than sending you the wise words of Andy Rooney, whom many of you will remember fondly from his musings at the end of “60 Minutes.” … Continue reading
Posted in Essays
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Earth’s Population in Perspective
Thanks to Donna D. The population of Earth is around 7.8 Billion. For most people, it is a large figure, that is all. However, if you condense 7.8 billion in the world into 100 persons, the percentages … Continue reading
Posted in Essays, Social justice
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Near the end of life, my hospice patient had a ghostly visitor who altered his view of the world
By Scott Janssen in The Washington Post For months, as I’ve visited Evan as his hospice social worker, he has been praying to die. In his early 90s, he has been dealing with colorectal cancer for more than four years, and … Continue reading
Posted in end of life, Essays, Health
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My, how things have changed
Thanks to Gordon G!
Posted in Essays, History, Remembrances
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Salmon spawn in the upper Columbia after an 80-year hiatus
From Crosscut by Courtney Flatt Scientists from Colville Tribes and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife say this is an important first step to restoring a healthy population. For the first time in more than 80 years, salmon have spawned … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, environment, Essays, History, Nature, Social justice
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Philosophy for growing old
Thanks to Al MacR. Make sure to scroll down–wonderful pictures to go with the thoughts!
Posted in Aging Sites, Essays, Photography
2 Comments
La Lectora
The last of her kind, Gricel regales Cuban cigar-rollers with readings and good humour Part of a Cuban tradition dating back to the 19th century, the lector de tabaqueria is tasked with reading to entertain the workers, or rollers, in cigar factories. … Continue reading
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An inspiration for us all
Thanks to Donna D.
What is an American?
Ed note: As a nation we tend to be pretty hard on ourselves–perhaps our own worst enemy. Other nations may be hard on us also, but some individuals still marvel and look up to how we’ve managed to have such … Continue reading
U.S. mishandling of COVID echoes the 20th century eugenics movement
by Knute Berger in Crosscut Ed note: In addition to this captivating article, there seem to be a number of undercurrents allowing the pandemic to spread, a major one being the tension between saving older people vs. keeping businesses operating. … Continue reading
Posted in Aging Sites, Business, end of life, Essays, Health, History, Social justice
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Barack and Michelle: Scenes From a Marriage
by Tim Egan in the NYT He walks too slowly, a languorous Hawaiian ambler. She’s a get-to-the-point woman, in gait and gab. He’s a politician. She has no use for the type. He gets tangled up in fancy talk. She … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Essays, Government
1 Comment
Pope Francis: A Crisis Reveals What Is in Our Hearts
In the NYT: In this past year of change, my mind and heart have overflowed with people. People I think of and pray for, and sometimes cry with, people with names and faces, people who died without saying goodbye to … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Climate, environment, Essays, Government, Homeless, Politics, Social justice
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The Rotting of the Republican Mind – David Books in the NYT
Ed Note: Do you agree with David Brooks in this essay? I can’t help but think of the college educated guy I met in San Diego with his MAGA hat on. He said, “What’s not to like?! We got our … Continue reading
A Conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates, Sexually Speaking with Dr. Ruth, How Music Connects Us with Meklit Hadero
Thanks to Ann M! View the web version of this message THE GRADUATE SCHOOL // OFFICE OF PUBLIC LECTURES Hello from the Office of Public Lectures! We are so excited to share our exciting … Continue reading
Posted in Essays
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The radical aristocrat who put kindness on a scientific footing
Ed note: This article is a reminder that life isn’t just about competition and survival. It’s also about compassion and support of one another. From Aeon by Lydia Syson: Five years had passed since Czar Alexander II promised the emancipation of … Continue reading
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Five Great Things Biden Has Already Done
by David Brooks in the NYT Many of our best presidents have been underestimated. Truman was seen as the tool of a corrupt political machine. Eisenhower was supposedly a bumbling middlebrow. Grant was thought a taciturn simpleton. Even F.D.R. was … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Essays, Government, happiness, Philosophy, Politics, Race, Safety, Social justice
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These states are ditching Columbus Day to observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead
A statue of Christopher Columbus at a downtown Los Angeles park is surrounded by a chain-link fence on October 9, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. The city council voted in August to replace Columbus Day, today, with Indigenous People’s Day, … Continue reading
Coping amid disaster: How we can mentally prepare for a pandemic winter
From KUOW by Kim Malcolm and John O’Brien This week marks six months since Washingtonians were directed to the stay at home amid the coronavirus pandemic. The changes have affected all of us. Dr. Kira Mauseth is a practicing clinical … Continue reading
The International Apostrophe Protection Society
From Aeon Punctuation is dead – or is it? If you’ve ever texted ‘im here’ or ‘its in the car’, you’re in good company. Most of us have, at some point since the dawn of texting, transgressed the boundaries of … Continue reading
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Five-minute coronavirus stress resets
Thanks to Linda W. for sending this along. By Jenny Taitz • Illustrations by Rozalina Burkova – in the NYT In this emotional equivalent to an ultramarathon, it’s key to have some stress-reducing strategies available that work quickly and efficiently to … Continue reading
The Benefits of Talking to Strangers
By Jane E. Brody in the New York Times. Thanks to Put B. for finding this. I’m a lifelong extrovert who readily establishes and relishes casual contacts with people I encounter during daily life: while walking my dog, shopping for groceries, … Continue reading
The Barnacle Theory of Life
By Mel Walsh (thanks Mary Jane F. for finding this) Barnacles….marine undesirables, clinging sea-shelled critters. They grab onto and weigh down everything from sea turtles to boats that have to be put into dry dock to scrape off the cluster … Continue reading
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‘Stay away.’ ‘Biggest petri dish in the world.’ The view from Canada, of us, isn’t so nice.
By Danny Westneat Seattle Times columnist Remember how people would joke about moving to Canada when things would go terribly, politically? Like, say, after America had invaded the wrong country. People here, especially liberal Seattle people, would vow: “That’s it, I’m … Continue reading
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