“What would prompt a well-educated woman of a certain age to take up such a dubious pastime? A pastime that makes her long-patient husband of 48 years sigh audibly when he enters the…

“When I was a child, I was intrigued by a dainty vial of smelling salts which my mother kept in her ‘pocketbook’ and brought with her everywhere. On a hot summer day, when…

“But somewhere along the way, as always happens, everything changed. The neighbor across from us expanded a business that previously didn’t encroach on our street, cutting down two magnolias and a couple of…

“Our persistent friendship continued despite the day ‘they’ separated us (or maybe because of that day). After all, who knows how the ill meaning or well-meaning choices of adults will ultimately affect children? That day—the…

“On that day that now seems so long ago, I watched as Republicans and Democrats rose to sing Carter’s praises (among them the sons of former president Gerald Ford and former VP Walter…

“As a Yoga teacher (which I am), I accept that negative chatter is contrary to the teachings of ahimsa, or non-harming. But if a swear word is screamed in a forest and no…

“Some go to J-school to become better writers, to become investigative reporters, to learn how to interview well, and write clearly. Others head straight to newsrooms or combat zones. All this takes time,…

“I don’t know how my mother (to whom family was everything) would weather the pain of seeing families and friends torn apart by politics now. Back in the 1950s, my dad was a…

“The summer we fell in love, which was the summer of ‘72, we were both home in Schenectady, New York on break from our respective colleges, Kirkland and the Manhattan School of Music.…

“When I think of what my Yoga teachers have imparted this year, and especially Jill and Ali, I realize that they’ve helped me—and the poses have helped me—to somehow accept (I’d like to…