Themes of love and death. These are pervasive in the arts throughout history. Poets, philosophers, novelists have wrestled with the human disposition towards ‘dying for love,’ ‘dying to self for love,’ ‘dying to love.’ The nuances in these phrases reveal the complexities of human relationships. Dying for love. Does this mean dying figuratively because of…
Issues in Life
It’s never too late . . .
Meet my friend Henry. I can say ‘friend’ even though I met him just recently at the gym. He’s the kind of guy I want as a friend. 93 years old. Pushes his walker at a good c lip as he enters the gym with determined focus. Heads straight to the first of his three…
Juxtaposition – a lesson from the ‘Up’ movie
A need for definition. Juxta = next to. Pose = to place. Juxtapose = to place next to. ‘Juxtaposition’ describes a situation where two elements that don’t seem to belong together are placed side by side. The contrast heightens emotional impact, creates irony, conveys a clash of realities, and engages the reader, viewer, or listener…
“If only . . .” or “At least . . .”? – the power of regret
The face tells the story. It was the women’s individual cycling road race at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Anna van der Breggen (center) won gold “by the width of a tire.” Emma Johansson (on left) got silver. And Elisa Borghini (on right) came in third for bronze. At the finish line,…
How much is enough? . . . Sometimes ‘less is more’
This picture reminds me of a childhood experience. An uncle offered me a choice between two coins: a nickel or a dime. He didn’t include a quarter. Of course I took the nickel. You know why. I was 5 years old. My awareness for the respective value of things was pretty much oriented towards ‘Bigger…
“You can do it . . . !”
“You can do it, Ron! You can do it!” Mile 17 or 18 of the New York City Marathon. What’s often called ‘hitting the wall.’ A point in the 26.2 miles where a runner longs to just collapse into a fetal position on the sidewalk. I had already shifted into an even slower gear than…
A Tale of Two . . . – “Can’t we all just get along?”
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1792). “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season…
To Swear or Not to Swear, . . . That is the question
I know, it may be ‘cheesy’ to do a spin on Shakespeare’s ‘to be or not to be.’ But it makes the title more appealing than ‘Language Used at Work, at Home, and Everywhere Else‘ (my original title). My personal history with ‘swear’ words is pretty conservative. When our son was in his mid to…
On ‘Just because I could . . .’
Postscript (February 2026) For the backstory on my comments below, first read “Just because I could . . . a thing called ‘Power’.” In May 2025, a town hall meeting was called in protest to the sudden ban of all boats on the lake. The Park Superintendent who made that fateful decision was brave enough…
‘Almost there . . .’
It was a 5 kilometre community run for a cancer charity. I had just started distance running (at age 55) and was testing my speed intervals in preparation for an upcoming longer run. Approaching the last kilometre, I overtook a young man who was slightly swaying from side to side at a slow pace. I…