The ocean was so brisk and clear that it felt more like mountain air than water, so translucent that I could see a variety pack of colorful fish darting among the rocks at least ten feet below. I hauled my exhausted body out of the water and back onto the small motor boat. I was in Mexico, trying to learn how to surf, but it was futile. Midway through the lesson with my kids I realized that my personal surfing ship has sailed. I have some rotation problems with my right shoul

I married a Frenchman, therefore I like to think that I know more about soufflés than your average American cook. But I could be wrong about that. Don’t tell my spouse that I don’t like soufflés...but I don’t. They’re too eggy. Too airy. Too complicated and aristocratic for my pedestrian taste. Give me a hot chocolate chip cookie (with walnuts!) and a cold glass of full fat-milk every once in a while and I’ll be happy. But that is not my husband, nor anyone in his large exten

The disciples are lined up. Row after row after row. Heads bowed but for the few who have their eyes trained heavenward, beseeching their God for mercy. Hands clasped so tightly that their knuckles are white. Almost all are visibly praying. A hypnotic mumbling, each repeating their own personal words but along the same line. Chanting their wish, concentrating so deeply you believe whatever it is that they want must come true. Otherwise that will be proof that there is, in fac

The heart surrenders everything to the moment. The mind judges and holds back. In most of our human relationships, we spend much of our time reassuring one another that our costumes of identity are on straight. When we see the Beloved in each person, it's like walking though a garden, watching flowers bloom all around us. Ram Dass   Several years ago I was suffering from odd heart palpitations and some tightness and pain in my chest area. "This is definitely a heart attack,"

On November 30, 2022, Generative Pre-trained Transformer (Chat GPT) was unleashed on the human population. I knew nothing about it and until recently I called it Chat GPS, confusing it (as I am wont to do with most technology) with another application that is also making us humans dumber and dumber - ever more reliant on that robot in our pocket to get from point A to point B. GPS (Global Positioning System) is a technology that I happily employ and which has unhappily destro

A week before Halloween I was having a casual dinner with a friend when I started, for no apparent reason, to get fidgety and irritated. Soon those feelings morphed inexplicably into being REALLY pissed off. I did an internal check (body, mind, and spirit) and found nothing amiss. My friend was certainly not the cause of my irritation; she's a good conversationalist and fun to be with. The food was fine and the crowd was lively. The lighting (my usual bugaboo) was soft and wa