Salty

I have a good friend who puts extra salt on everything. With some effort, I have been able to convince them to at least try the food before adding salt, but after a taste, the salt always goes on. We have five basic tastes: salt, sweet, sour, bitter and umami (the taste of glutamic acid).…

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Great Expectations

We recently changed our internet provider. That sentence made many of you shudder, and you groaned a little without even knowing it. If you have been an adult more than a few days and have cable, internet, or any other wired or quasi-wired service coming to your house, apartment, or tiny home, you already know…

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All I Want For Christmas

I saw Santa and Mrs. Claus this past week. Was it the real Santa Claus? Well, there are a few ways I can answer that. I could tell you that it was. “How could that be?” you say. Maybe you’ve heard of a little thing called magic? I could tell you that it was a Helper Santa—one of many…

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Safety In Numbers

As our last child is a senior in high school this year, we have seen many “lasts.” One was our last Christmas band concert. I must admit, I have, over the years, been an impatient and at times intolerant concert goer. This year was different. I not only really enjoyed the program, but I realized something…

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Momentary Lapse

Recently, someone asked me how I was doing, and I heard myself say, “I’m really busy, but once I get past the next couple of weeks…” I wish I had corrected myself right then, but it wasn’t until later that I realized the tragic mistake I was making. I was wasting my life by letting…

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A Rare Blossom

Purple lights, music, delicious food, awesome art, and most importantly, friends. That was the scene Friday night at the Fifty Fifty Party, a celebration in food, fun, and philanthropy of the life and art of one of my best friends, Farooq Karim. It was a wonderful evening that reminded me of something I need to…

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The Right Question

I am writing from the west coast today. My surroundings and my companions create a sense of serenity that is refreshing and rejuvenating. Only a few days ago, I was listening to the story of a woman who spent much of her life in danger and in pain. I am acutely conscious of how blessed I…

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Honest Hearts, Honest Actions

When I walk in the morning, I pass a house where a cat lives. Most mornings, the cat comes out to greet me. It rubs up against my leg and seems to be glad I am there, but this is not the most likely explanation. Cats love to rub up against people and things. This…

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Nothing In The End

He that is hard to please may get nothing in the end. Aesop I like dogs. We have two, Roscoe, a mutt we found on the street, and Dixie, a pit bull mix we adopted from a shelter. Both have their oddities but also have a trait common to most dogs; they are easy to…

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Grateful Vigilance

A great friend of mine recently left a lucrative job because the person they were working for was “ungrateful, unreasonable, and unfair.” That first word, “ungrateful”, caught my attention. What is so important about gratitude, and why do we find the lack of it so distasteful? We just observed the Fourth of July, Independence Day…

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