Ask an Angel: October 19, 2023

My aging parents recently experienced a fire scare in their home, and it’s left us all concerned about their well-being. My parents are at an age where certain physical limitations might pose challenges in the event of an emergency. I want to be proactive in helping them create a safer living environment, but I’m not sure where to start or what steps to take.

Giving tree: how caring for nature can lead to real joy

My son, Christopher, graduated college in May. He lives in Tennessee, and we have been meeting virtually each Friday to discuss his job search. I can unabashedly say it is the highlight of my week. Our weekly chats give him an opportunity to let me know what he has accomplished and for me to give him feedback and ideas of where he should be focusing his efforts. The feeling that I am tangibly helping him to chart his future is very rewarding. As Elie Tahari observed “Sooner or later, you realize that real fulfillment comes only from helping others. All of the rest is just temporary.”

When the AI gods plunk you into a demographic

It can be a bit jarring to learn that you’re part of a demographic, especially if it’s one you didn’t particularly want to be part of.

Oh, sometimes we choose our demographics willingly, if unconsciously. If you watch a lot of Duck Dynasty, you’re probably glad to see ads for camouflage outdoor wear. Watch a lot of Golden Girls reruns, and you’ll find the best prices for hearing aids and hemorrhoid cream.

Traffic jam jammin’

It was a nearly perfect fall morning, the kind with a clear blue sky as sharp as glass. The tips of trees were just starting to be touched by edges of gold and red. My gas tank was full, and I’d thrown my overnight bag into the back seat. I was taking a quick trip up to Wisconsin to visit some relatives who were staying at my parents’ house.

Early every morning, weather permitting, I ride out of Sun City southward along Sandwald Road all the way to Timber Creek and back, a roundtrip of a bit more than seven miles that lasts me the better part of an hour. I wish it were longer, but that’s as far as I can go in the countryside without too great a risk of being squashed like a bug by a truck or car.

Someone else’s house

She is practically my neighbor, but I don’t run into her at the block party or chat with her at garage sales. This mysterious woman was, until a few months ago, an elected public official—and she just happens to live down the street from me. Even though I know her by name, I’ve never spoken to her face to face. But she’s visible in other ways. I’ve seen her at ribbon cutting ceremonies, sports tournaments, and public meetings. I’ve read her Op-ed pieces; I’ve scoured countless news stories, tracking her role as a public servant. She fascinates me, this local quasi-celebrity.

Ask an Angel: September 21, 2023

I’m writing for advice regarding a situation that has arisen in my family. Recently, my parents started home care, and we welcomed a new caregiver into our lives. As their daughter, I’m eager to facilitate a positive and meaningful relationship between my parents and their caregiver.

An unexpected pleasure

It’s the end of summer which means the end of another bocce ball season. The championship tournament is over, and the winners are to be honored for all eternity on a plaque hanging proudly in a dark corner in Jameson’s Charhouse. The plaque must first be engraved, and since the name plate is as old as we are, there is only one engraver in this area that still has the necessary equipment to do the job. On the way to the engraver, we passed by a restaurant that one of our bocce buddies, Hank, recommended. We must admit we have passed by this restaurant time and time again and never gave it a second thought. We’re talking about the 3 Brothers Restaurant in Woodstock.

Festival notes

Hope you all had a great Labor Day. As I write this, cold rains stream down my window. This grand harbinger of Autumn is a far cry from the canals in Italy, which were a balmy 84 degrees. The Lido was a bit spare at the Venice Film Festival due to the Actors’ and Writers’ Strike. However, some films managed to break through. New features premiered by Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater and the final film by William Friedkin made their debuts. Netflix made a big splash due to a lack of big studio presence. Both Bradley Cooper’s Maestro and David Fincher’s The Killer lead the way; both of which I plan to look into later this year.

Sail on, Jimmy. Thanks for the memories

As I write these words, it is early Saturday morning, September 2. Just a few hours ago, my musical hero Jimmy Buffett died.

When I learned the news, I did the same thing I did when my musical hero John Prine died of covid three years ago: I pulled out my guitar and started playing as many of his songs as I knew, fighting back the tears before my throat choked each song to a premature end.

This tender heart

I come home from work to find my teen daughter crying on her bed. She is 16, a high school junior, a virtual replica of myself at that age, both in looks and demeanor. The tears rolling down her face are hot and angry. When I try to hug her, I can feel the way every muscle in her body is taut, and my mind immediately thinks of a snake, coiled and backed into a corner, ready to strike defensively at the slightest provocation.

Ask an Angel: September 7, 2023

Although I hesitate to call myself a senior, I’m an older adult who is approaching retirement age and I’m considering the prospect of active retirement living. As this is a significant life decision, I’m writing for information about what active retirement entails and how to make the most of this phase in life.  Over the years, I’ve witnessed friends and family transitioning into various forms of retirement living, and I’ve seen a wide range of experiences.

Many happy returns

As the unsettling feeling that summer is ending creeps in, some promise of new media comes with it. Although there haven’t been many good choices at the theater, television and streaming has been picking up the slack.

Escape to Japan

We love hibachi restaurants, it’s a show and a dinner all in one. The dinner is provided by the chef who slices and dices your food with lightning speed on a flaming grill. The show is provided by Nancy trying to use chopsticks. Eating her food with them has been challenging, especially the soup!!!

A DIY writing retreat

For as far back as I can remember, going on a writing retreat has held a certain allure. Blame it on my third-grade teacher, who encouraged me to enter a writing contest through the school. When my story advanced to state, I got the exciting news: I was invited to spend an entire Saturday at Illinois State University with other elementary school-aged writers. That day, I met my first real author, as I clutched a hardcover book that she signed on the inside cover with large loopy letters. I was star-struck. I was hooked.

Too soon or not, a taste of pandemic nostalgia

After an unmitigated disaster has passed, when can you say anything good about it, beyond the point when anybody might say “too soon”?

After WWII ended in 1945, it took 20 years before “Hogan’s Heroes” could crack jokes about life in a German prisoner of war camp. It took a similar number of decades before “Mash” could get us laughing about a Korean War triage medical hospital.