Tag Archives: Words to the Wise

The summer of 2018, I visited Austin, Texas, intending to learn to dance the Texas two-step. I stayed for a week in a little Airbnb a half mile from the legendary Broken Spoke – the honky tonk bar and dance hall that since 1964 has become a landmark of country …

Last summer I gave away my corkscrew. I enjoy wine, but my enthusiasm for imbibing the fermented grape waxes and wanes, and that summer the corkscrew was gathering dust. So when my neighbor Stefan appeared on my doorstep begging to borrow it, I told him to take it and keep …

Jarrod Listiak is old school in ways that not many people can claim to be. For more than two decades, Listiak has made a living as a professional jouster, working Renaissance Fairs throughout the country and in Europe, but sees himself as the last of a dying breed. “I’m the …

I was today years old when I finally learned where the name of the month of January comes from. January, it seems, was named after the Roman god Janus, god of beginnings and transitions. Janus was supposed to have two faces, one facing forward and one facing backward, so he …

Last Friday was a busy day – I had lots of errands to run, then I was meeting my new boyfriend, Joseph, at a local bar and grill for a quick dinner, and from there we were going to the opening of a friend’s art exhibition.  By the time I …

Long ago, a man named Diderot lived in Paris. Diderot was a middle-aged man and had lived all his life in poverty, working as a writer and philosopher. But one day, Diderot came into money unexpectedly. All of a sudden, he had six figures in the bank and a generous …

Life can seem so demanding and frantic – so much to do, so many plates to keep spinning and fronts to hold down. Standards to live up to and accomplishments to chase, in the hope of reaching happiness. It can be exhausting. That’s why I was thrilled – and relieved …

Many years ago, someone gave me a little sticker, only about a half inch wide and two inches long, that read, in friendly blue type, It will be OK. At the time, I just slipped the sticker into an envelope along with some others, and forgot about it. Much later, …

Yesterday was the Fourth of July, but since I’m outside the U.S., there were no celebrations, no fireworks for me. I watched a movie that had fireworks in it, just to get to see some. Where I am, the Azores islands, belong to Portugal, and Portugal has its own Independence …