Sleep, and its capricious companionship has been a sure-fire inspiration for some of my posts. [S]leep deprivation is an illegal torture method outlawed by the Geneva Convention and international courts, but most of us do it to ourselves. ~Ryan Hurd, Dream Like A...
Almost four years ago, I wrote about sleeplessness. What was keeping me up then, I can’t really remember – but I have a whole new slew of stuff that can steal the zzzzzz’s. Or, more artfully described: A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow. ~Charlotte Brontë So, I...
October has whizzed by; for once, though, I am prepared for visitors -- trick or treaters that is.. This has been one of the prettiest Octobers I can remember giving several gifts of crisp blue skies and oh so fresh air. Even the rainy days have been . . . restful. ...
I know it when I have it: serenity — and I know when I am losing it. And everybody around me knows when I have lost it. But serenity is recoverable — available for the asking. (The Serenity Prayer) Serenity’s definition is the state of being calm, peaceful, and...
A pianist friend confided that what she sees in musical composition changes over time—when she looks at sheet music, especially ones she has loved and played over the years. What she saw in the score at age 18 changed when she was 35 in the exact same sheet music....
It’s true: I don’t like to think of myself as losing ground; but: When your mind thinks you can do what you did at 35 and you’re 70 years old, it’s only a matter of time before you get yourself hurt. (John Erickson) Maybe it’s because I had so much time on my hands...
Today begins our first full day of living without Uncle Bud, Doug’s mother’s younger brother. He was a fixture in my life for almost 50 years, and for Doug’s whole existence— 82 years! It’s going to be weird to be living without Uncle Bud — for he was a person who...
Reopening my mother’s estate was one thing that was never on my radar. But the past year has brought many unexpected experiences, conversations and worries, hasn’t it? Because sleep and I are not always on speaking terms, one night I searched the Maryland Unclaimed...
Matisse’s painting of a bowl of goldfish in a darkened room, “guarded” by two cats tickled me. (Interior with Goldfish) It seemed to tell a story with several chapters; a story I’ve adapted in my paintings, many times over the past ten months that Covid has been...
Two Deadly Viruses The resurgence of COVID-19 cases is . . . daunting. So, too, a new tidal wave of Potomac Fever is stunning. Is anybody really surprised? In some ways, I feel like I am in the middle of a recurring nightmare that puts me in a panic. The dream I...
How are you doing? Are you hangin' in there, friend? I get waves of nervousness that wash over me; a sudden panic I'll run out of laundry soap, toilet paper or cough drops. Seriously. Is it too much caffeine, and a bit less sleep than I should be clocking? Or, is the...
In conversations in the middle of the night, I am better off talking to God than to myself. Current events and the new normal breed fear if I listen to me. Early in the morning, when sleep decides to take a break, I talk to God; if I talk to myself, I get into...
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