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Aida Faces A Constant, Unrelenting Pain

Let’s meet Aida. She’s 51, gainfully employed until recently, married to Steven for 28 years, and has four grown children together. Three are on their own, two married with young children, and one son living at home. She’s 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 138 pounds. She has dark hair with a touch of gray and dark eyes. She comes dressed smartly in a suit, comfortable looking shoes, and a touch of make-up. Aida’s call a few days earlier sounded concerning. I’d asked if she was all right, and she stated that hours earlier she’d been crying angry tears. What I heard was ...

Common Sayings May Not Be What We Mean

Often, we say things that really do not mean what they say. The summer we had an exchange student from France we found out just how many of these we said. It seemed like he was always confused and he showed it by his expression. He found some turtle wax on the table and asked about it. Do we really wax turtles he wanted to know? I explained that was just the name of the product. No, we did not wax turtles with it. It was for the car. A friend lent me a book that had a lot of idioms in it. The part that really intrigued me was the part about the idioms from the Bible. I had no idea ...

Musing About The Joys Of Living With Molly

Monday. Stretching over the far side of my bed, I could watch the dog’s rhythmic breathing. So Molly was still alive. Thank you, God. But why hadn’t she awakened me at seven (or earlier) as was her wont? It was almost eight o’clock. Frightened, I called to her. Relieved, I saw her immediate response. Long football weekend. Perhaps that just exhausted us both. (I know I always have to play each down with the teams.) I was happy again when I saw her join me for our regular walk for the papers. She was frisky and frolicking, eager to get to her breakfast once we ...

Warren Should Exit The Race

After dismal performances in both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire Democratic primary, placing third and fourth place, respectively, Elizabeth Warren has about a 1/1024th chance of winning her party’s nomination. Yes, in politics, anything is possible — including unlikely comebacks from flailing candidates. But there’s no denying that Warren’s presidential campaign is losing steam. Without momentum, donors will go elsewhere, ensuring her one-way ticket back to Massachusetts. What went wrong exactly? It turns out that the former Harvard professor had “a plan” for ...

The Good Life: Staying Active? My Eggs Keep Me Moving

Eggs keep me alive, more or less. It is not just the eating of them, although I do down two scrambled eggs, dolloped with mayonnaise, almost every morning. It is the getting of those eggs that fulfills my doctors’ instructions to get a half-hour of vigorous exercise nearly every day. That begins with a walk toward the barn, located about 100 yards from our farmhouse. Out where we live, one does not simply walk out the back door and stroll into the barn. Chores pop up all along the way. Left to themselves, our four or five cats would be barn cats. My wife decided to entice them ...

Canine Companion: Reactivity Is A Response To Fear

Today we are going to talk about reactivity. A reactive dog is generally associated with aggression, but in most situations, that’s not the case. First of all, if as you are reading this article you believe your dog is displaying signs of reactivity, I would like to make it clear that this does not mean you have a bad dog. Reactivity is a response to fear; it’s essentially a “fight or flight” response that’s natural to the body. I know the display of reactivity may be embarrassing and frustrating as you are attempting to take your dog for a walk down the street or visit ...