A fitness instructor at my gym was at the grocery store the other day. Two people were ahead of her in line: a middle-aged man and a woman in her 70s. When the total was rung up for the woman, the man pulled out some cash and paid her bill....

  A few days ago, I strolled into my local grocery store to find a mother squatting down to talk to her tow-headed daughter. I’m guessing her little girl was around three years old, that cantankerous age when you begin to wonder why you had a kid in the first place. Tears...

The anger in the national air right now is as thick as London fog. People are digging into position as the political divide widens. Some have marched, others have looted, many take to social media to try to shut the “other side” up with their version of the facts. As tempting as it may...

I finally caught La La Land, the romcom that has created quite a buzz since its release on December 9 of last year. The Oscars haven’t even been given out yet, and it’s already collected enough awards to sink a canoe. I loved the movie. It’s a stylistic flick that harks back...

  Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day… So sang the Mamas and the Papas in their 1966 hit. If you can’t trust the first day of the week, some believe you really can’t trust the third Monday of January, known as “Blue Monday.” In 2005, Cliff Arnall of Cardiff University in...

Meet Remy, the wire-haired fox terrier. According to his humans on Facebook, he passed away last week after a happy dog life of over 17 years. His family is missing him, of course, but they will be chuckling over some of his antics for a long time – like the one...

January 6 marks the end of one season on the Christian calendar – Christmastide – and the beginning of a new one – Epiphany. With origins in the Eastern church stretching back centuries, Epiphany celebrates a variety of events, including the baptism of Jesus, the miracle at Cana, the Nativity, and the...

My wife surprised me with a whirlwind trip to New York at Christmas. Seeing the Big Apple during the holidays was on my bucket list, so I soaked in everything from the sparkling Rockefeller Center tree to the Rockettes holiday show. It was a grand trip made even grander by our...

I turned 60 last year, so I can really identify with these quips about the New Year: -Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to.  -Santa Claus and the dropping of the ball on Times Square have a...

“There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked” (Isaiah 48:22). How well did Jacob Marley, the business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge, know this! In A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the spectral Marley groans under the weight of the chain he forged in life, links heavy with the cash-boxes,...