Check Your Fortune, Cookie?
Performing rituals, particularly harmless and generally unimportant ones, has the power to assure us of life’s continuity. When we repeat...
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- Dec 1, 2021
School Board (Never Bored)
We had a little ritual. Sometimes, when meetings got contentious, my colleague would lean over and whisper, “This is a thankless job!”...
- Nov 16, 2021
Wise (and Why’s) Grandparenting
Grandparenting provides an endless series of satisfying experiences exceeding anything I could have anticipated. I scrum around with a...
- Oct 22, 2021
Planning: Habit or Necessity?
My wife’s retirement has confirmed what my high school science teachers taught me, that nature really does abhor a vacuum. This...
- Oct 10, 2021
Philly’s Washington Square
As a kid, I stopped in at my grandparents’ house at 704 Pine St. about twice a month. Besides the pleasant family re-connection, there...
- Oct 2, 2021
What Ever Happened to…?
Lately, when I awaken briefly in the middle of the night, it’s become common to find myself in “whatever happened to?” land. Names that...
- Sep 14, 2021
Lessons Learned
Gripped by Covid overload, what the disease has revealed about our society is the last thing I want to write about. But sometimes the...
- Aug 31, 2021
Baseball and Families
Watching the Phillies on TV the other night, I focused on a close-up that demanded my attention. A dad (or some insensitive version of...
- Aug 21, 2021
Truth Really Is Stranger Than Fiction
Even though we completed our move to Philadelphia a year ago, I’m still coming across relics from different times and different places....
- Aug 16, 2021
Write!
I marvel sometimes about how fragments of the past suddenly re-appear after years of being ignored by their negligent guardian, me. In...
- Jul 21, 2021
Saying Thank-You
Her reaction surprised me. She looked at me doubtfully, eyes narrowed, but then, a tentative smile began to lighten her face. “Me?” she...
- Jul 1, 2021
Ingredients for an Ideal Retirement
In this ever-competitive country, everything must be ordered and evaluated––even our retirement plans. Today in Inside Higher Ed, I...
- May 30, 2021
A Vehicle for Reminiscence
BEFORE––Tomorrow, I’m going to take care of one more complication that stems from moving. In case you’re worried, I’m in no danger of...
- May 12, 2021
Mort’s Mother’s Day Poem
Mort and Elaine enjoy Philly’s great restaurants with friend Barbara Nodine. Mort’s Mother’s Day Poem, May 9, 2021 --For the Belle, now...
- Mar 17, 2021
The Curse of Flexible Truth and False Alternative Realities
Our grand-daughter, 21-month-old Della Maimon, observes the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Innovative energy has generally been a...
- Mar 1, 2021
Crossword Puzzles
I suddenly looked up from the article I’d been reading and half-shouted, “Damn! That’s it!” “What’s it?” inquired my startled wife...
- Feb 23, 2021
Our Young Art Enthusiasts
Our twin grandkids, Della and Marcus Maimon, at 22-months old are already sculpture aficionados. Here they are visiting Grounds for...
- Feb 23, 2021
Learning to Write
After I graduated from a prestigious academic high school, I knew one thing for certain. Never in the future would I write anything...
- Jan 19, 2021
Swimming
Years ago, I became a compulsive swimmer because I couldn’t escape the recollection of being called, in the parlance of those times, a...
- Jan 11, 2021
Mugs for Thugs
During the pandemic, Elaine and I have taken advantage of one of the few positive results of sequestration. Being confined, we often...
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