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HISTORICAL FATHER’S DAYS 2026

Historical Father’s Days in the olde country where I watched my children roam like Vikings conquering a new land.
Corfe Castle fell to my marauders.
The locals didn’t like our style of exploration.
The walkway through the ruins led to more investigation off the path.
“How would you like it if we went to your country and climbed on the Jefferson monument?”
“If it was in ruins like this it sounds fun.”

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FARMING DISASTER DONE ON PURPOSE

So much of the awful results of the farming disaster in the old Soviet Union came from bad policy decisions.
In the early 1930’s their main guy Stalin decided he knew more about science and farming than anyone.
He also had advisers explaining it to him in a way he agreed with.
Who doesn’t love the unconditional, “You are right, comrade.”
There was no room for disagreement.

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FOLLOW THE LEADER? NOT SO FAST

‘Follow the leader,’ they say.
‘It’ll be a fun learning experience.’
If that’s a green light for you, take another look.
Maybe ask a question like, ‘Where are we going?’
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RESPECT PEOPLE WHO TRUST YOU, OR . . .

This is the shocking end to a man trusted to respect people in his country.
It was all good until it wasn’t.
Is there a lesson to learn?
The people he governed had had enough and voted him out?
Nooooo.
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AUDIENCE RECOGNITION: KNOW THE ROOM

Albert Einstein had audience recognition with his letter in 1939.
His audience?
Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States.
He knew the room.
It was one person.

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toughen up

HELPING THE EMERGENCY RESCUE

Or, How To Tell The Difference Between Yoga And A Case For Emergency Rescue. The gym I belong to is full of classes. Usually they happen in a dance studio with window walls on one side and mirrors on the other. It’s the usual schedule of jumping around with a wired up instructor, lifting Styrofoam […]

REGRETS FROM THE DEATHBED

Bronnie Ware Listens To The Dying On Their Deathbed. The writer worked with dying patients who told their story. She listed the top five in her book. If you’ve been with others on their deathbed, do any of them ring true to you? The baby boomer demographic may have the same responses to imminent death, […]

CANCER IN THE CANCER CLOSET: GROWING TREND

  “The first time we got cancer we told everybody. We gathered the team and cheered.” It’s a good idea to rally the troops, focus the force. Then cancer-time sets in. One day. The next. Weeks. Months. “How do you feel?” “Are you feeling better?” “You must be exhausted. Are you exhausted?” You don’t want […]

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boomer years

Climate Change In My Kitchen Is Real

  The first step to take when the air conditioning fails on the hottest week of the year, with an even hotter week on the near horizon?   Stop making things hotter. No cooking. Eighty five degrees in the kitchen with nothing on is hot enough.   Thinking of baking a polenta pizza? Maybe flattening […]

AGING IN PLACE MEANS LIVING IN PEACE

Baby Boomers yearn for an Aging in Place state of mind. If all we are asking is give peace a chance, why not ask for more, like a peaceful place to live? This aging behemoth of a generation, these Baby Boomers, are asking for more. They say they want to age in place, like aging […]

NATIONAL VIETNAM VETERAN DRILL SERGEANT DAY

    By the time of September, 1974, people joining the armed forces knew they wouldn’t go to Vietnam. At least the people who kept up with the Vietnam War knew, and keeping up was as easy as watching the six o’clock news.   Back then joining the Army wasn’t the same as being drafted, […]

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buckle up

BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAIN HUG FROM GROVE PARK INN

Or, How the Grove Park Inn cures your ills without pills. The Omni Grove Park Inn, GPI, comes packed with the sort of history that ties people to places through material anthropology. And it’s a clever knot. With an original main lodge dating from 1913 flanked by wings added in the ’80’s, the property sits […]

PORTLAND 1980: HOW TO SETTLE IN A NEW TOWN

    One song stuck with me on the bus ride from NYC to Portland 1980: The second verse of Lodi, by Creedence Clearwater:   I rode in on the Greyhound I’ll be walkin’ out if I go I was just passin’ through Must be seven seven months or more Ran out of time and […]

CATCH PORTLAND FEVER

Once you catch Portland Fever you’re doomed. Drug stores don’t advertise shots in case you catch Portland Fever. It’s not shingles, pneumonia, or the flu. On the other hand it’s not polio, malaria, of tuberculosis. While not fatal, if you do catch Portland Fever, your life is ruined. After a few years in Portland, maybe […]

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