Crises have always served as a mirror of society, but as history shows, in different ways at different times. — In a sobering essay in March 2020, The New York Times’ columnist David Brooks tapped into a human truth: when things get ugly, we tend to leave the details to the dry record of historical fact. The article cited the effects of public health crises on literature over time. The…

A coincidence? Maybe. Or a sign from the Universe. — This morning, on the day of the Winter Solstice — a bit under nine hours of daylight in this corner of the world — last year’s amaryllis finally presented a hint of life, of renewal. It’s a promise, a sign. Today our planet begins its ageless shift toward the sun…

Nothing changes a mindset like curtailed options. — Retirees who embrace a northern winter as if it were a big swig of icy vodka and relish in the resulting sharp tingle — you’ve got this. You’re in your element; you have a solid strategy for getting through days of diminished sunlight. The vagaries of harsh weather present an…

Urban dog etiquette meets urban tree-lovers. — The poop-bag is central to responsible urban dog-ownership. Its deployment is normative behavior, the threshold of urban pet etiquette. Non-compliance is grounds for banishment from the pet-friendly island of the dog park. I am a dog-lover, although not currently a dog-owner. I favor larger breeds, but my setting and lifestyle…

We’re not going to let him take ’21, too. — We’ve done it. Over with the longest year in recent memory, worldwide: 2020. I came through luckier than many, thus far seriously unscathed. I don’t want to repeat a Christmas holiday alone, however, requested away from family. Meanwhile, we all know the culprit of our emotional malaise and physical threat. It’s the Grinch. He stole 2020. With apologies to Dr. Seuss, it’s the Grinch’s fault. Ever the prankster, the…

Three lessons I learned as a writer. (Hint: My world did not fall apart.) — Truth be told, it has been more than a “few” months. My pen has been silenced; productivity stifled—pretty much AWOL as a writer for the past two quarters of 2020. And here we are in December, year’s end. I want to blame COVID for the dip in productivity. It’s a…

Here’s why it’s so hard. — Of all the “ists” writers might aspire to — from novelists to essayists — the Holy Grail, to my mind, is humorist. Specifically, the essayist who writes with biting humor, a witty turn of phrase. Uses scathing satire to reveal a universal truth. British writers do all of this, and…

My past brought to the present, but not the way I thought. — During the summer’s protests and ensuing violence, perpetuated in part by governmental paramilitary units, it is easy to forget we’ve trod a similar road. May 2020 marked the 50th anniversary of the National Guard’s shooting of student protestors at Kent State University in Ohio. …

A Pandemic? No, the tragic events at Kent State University. — It wasn’t a creeping pandemic that brought an abrupt end to my senior year of college life. It was the Ohio National Guard’s lethal shooting of four college students at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. In a blink, all public universities in Ohio closed by order of the…