Issues in Life

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, 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 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…

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…

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…

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…

Backstory: As expressed in A Start . . . A Fresh Start . . . and then, A New Fresh Start, I did the piece below during my one day of writing in May 2025. Now, in January 2026, I have reworked it somewhat but still let it speak from the context of that day…

TIME. Is there anything more variable in our experience of life? As a child in the family car, heading to see Grandma (we called her Baba), it passed so excruciatingly sloooow. Now, at 76, I simply don’t know where the past 25 years have gone. It seems like only yesterday that my wife and I…

Irony of Life: When we want/need something the most, many of us can afford it the least; and when we can afford it the most, we no longer want or need it. When people ask where I grew up, I often say, “I farmed until I was 2.” That line usually gets a smile. I…

Wow! I am hungry for everything I see – especially in the Bakery section. Recently my spouse and I decided to alter some of our food and eating habits. I found it quite easy to do that while stretched out in my recliner and just talking about it. Kind of a challenge when actually pushing…