Behaving Presidential
Vice President Joe Biden spoke to the junior and senior classes at Galena High School last month. Eager students and their parents, took bleacher seats in the packed gymnasium as the vice president prepared to discuss the importance of a college education. A historic event for the community; unfortunately, Vice President Biden would have to cut his speech short. Extreme wind that day, coupled with hot embers from a resident’s improperly extinguished fireplace, created the conditions for a wild fire. School officials swiftly enacted evacuation procedures, and with the Vice President’s help, everyone made it out of building safely. One would assume that the vice president of the United States would have made his own evacuation plans, even if it...
Just Start Without Me
Last night I went to bed at 8:30 and woke up this morning at 7:00. I’m on vacation this week, so I’m “allowed” to sleep in, but tell ME that–my higher self that always orders me to work harder and never, ever waste time. When I finally got my sorry butt out of bed, I chastised myself for abusing the snooze option on my alarm clock. “How are you going to work solely within the dream career if you spend this vacation time sleeping?”I asked myself. Myself does not have an answer. Myself hates those rhetorical questions, anyway. God, I love naps, though I hardly ever get them. When I have time on a Saturday or Sunday, I don’t always allow myself to crawl back into bed, but when I do–Ahhhhh! I often hear myself...
Operating Without a License
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.” I love this quote by Lewis Carroll because it addresses a fear so many of us have of making bad choices. I liken our spiritual path to a game of, “Pin the Tail on the Donkey.” We stumble blindly along, listening for clues that will steer us towards the destination that feels right. I often find myself going down roads that I know are wrong, and yet I keep going. I like to assume that the Universe is trying to tell me something profound, and that I’m supposed to learn something from those diversions. That there is a reason for my being at a particular place in a specific time. I often wonder, why does one road close for some and open for others? I...
Watch Out, Dr. Doolittle
“When you roll up your newspaper to swat the dog,” my friend Judy said, “he thinks you don’t like him anymore.” “I DON’T like him anymore.” My dog, Oscar had peed again on the drapery panel. I was one step away from tying all of his belongs to the end of a stick and sending him on his way. Judy laughed. “He thinks he’s contributing to the beauty of the room when he pees inside the house.” “WHAT? That’s crazy!” “He doesn’t see it that way. In his mind, he says, Why did you hang those drapes there if you didn’t want me to pee on them? Who’s the crazy one here?” The last time that I took the drape down to launder it, I noticed Oscar was walking funny,...
Home Alone
My parents are planning another trip to Sweden in the fall. I told them I wouldn’t be able to go with unless they went in August–some of us have to work, hello! That’s when they told me I wasn’t invited. My parents crack me up. “No, really,” Dad said. “You’re not invited. It’s just going to be your mother and I.” Oh. OHHHHH! I didn’t know it was that kind of trip–where nine months later I have a new baby brother. Mom tells me that they want to visit her cousins Bernt and Ulla, who they haven’t seen in years. “We probably won’t even do much sightseeing.” I know my mother. She’s trying to make it sound like it won’t be much fun for me. It’s not working....
Fine Dining
I love to eat out in nice restaurants with friends. I enjoy the whole fine-dining experience, beginning with a glass of chardonnay followed by a salad of mixed greens. Now, I may be dating myself with the next statement, but I remember a time when a dining guest could enjoy a salad, even finish it before the entree arrived. Back-in-the-day, there was also a rule about not removing any plates until everyone at the table had finished eating. To remove one’s plate any sooner, would leave the still-eating guest feeling (a) conspicuous, like everyone was watching him/her eat, or (b) a sense of urgency to stop yapping and finish the meal, or (c) afraid that any lapse in fork to mouth activity might signal restaurant personnel to remove the...
