Dear Friends,

Sabrina died this past Wednesday, April 18, 2012, at 4:30 p.m.  

She was far past her life expectancy, but weakening.  Those last moments, I got her to the vet’s, and the vet came out to the car where I had her.  He tried to revive… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 39, My Mother's Signature

Today I was going through a shelf in the bathroom, trying to eliminate some toiletries and asprin bottles that were at least a decade old.  I  came across a bottle of Anais Anais perfume.  It was Mother's.

I remembered us talking about… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 38, Petting The Duchess

A very simple joy, running my palm across The Duchess’s forehead.  She is a German Shepherd that I have had the privilege of sharing living space with for 10 years now.

Some say that it is good for your blood… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 37, Elephants, Manatees and Us

I once heard that there were three animals that could cry: elephants, manatees and Homo sapiens.  It is probably an apocryphal because I can’t find any hard science to back that up.

I cried today over some sentimental… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 36, Getting Something Right

I just watched:

http://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_kuhl_the_linguistic_genius_of_babies.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2011-02-16&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email

The video is about how infants learn lan… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 35, Firstborn of a New Generation

My eldest grandson Cole is . . . .

With Cole it is not easy to pin a description down.  He lives in a body that seldom knows of being still.  In a few short months, he… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 34, Fresh Cherries

There are few advantages to living alone.  One of them is to sit down and eat a bowl of fresh cherries.  You can gorge yourself without appearing to be impolite, and you can spit out the pits without wondering if you look… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 33, Sunsets, Lovers and Valentine’s Day

What a glorious day!  The sun is shining, ice melted and I could step outside without all bundled up in coat, gloves and a scarf.  And it is Valentine’s Day!

I think of that wonderful song from… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 32, Sunshine

The sun is shining, and according to weather predictions, temperatures will stay above freezing for at least a week in the region where I live.  Some days' temps will even reach into the 70s.  Joy!

The variables that must be just right… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 31, Egypt, Glenn Beck and Charlie Rose

How wonderful to watch the recent developments in Egypt, with Murbarak out and hearing the cheers. 

Fox News’ Glenn Beck sees the revolt as an amalgam of groups from the Muslim Brotherhood to the AFL-CIO that… Read full post »

I was an adult and on a visit back to the town where I was raised.  Mother and I were returning to her house from a trip to the grocery, and as we drove the car into the driveway, we saw… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 29, Right-Wing Talk Dying

Joy, joy, joy, JOY!

According to an article by John Avlon for The Daily Beast, by PPM ratings:

Likewise, year-end to year-end comparisons of the crucial 24 to 55 demographic show that Rush declined from 3.7 to 2.6—while… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 28, Forgetting Polio

Late 1940s, early 50s:  one of our greatest childhood fears was contracting polio.  Particularly in the Southern Summers, I remember being coerced into afternoon naptime with the reasoning that the polio germ was out at that time of the day and… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 27, O’Reilly, Christians & Super Bowl 44

In President Obama's  interview with Bill O’Reilly, part two, O’Reilly said, “there’s a lot of money to [be] made if you can polarize people.”

Not a statement that makes me happy.&nb… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 26, A Republican Tea

I offer this family moment from our history.  Its recollection reminds of the differences within a sameness and brings me joy.  My grandfather was a Democrat.  Today, we of his descendants are the same.  But there are vast distinctions… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 25, Rainmaker Possibilities

In spite of the best efforts of my Protestant Sunday school teachers to instill into my soul the many and varied Bible verses for which my memorization was required, when I am in my darkest moments, it is the story of… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 24, Fathers and Daughters

Daddy died when I was twelve years old.  It was good that I was at least old enough to have some special memories of him that I could store up.

Chief among those memories was a gesture he had… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 23, ‘One Small Step’ of a Different Kind

Please indulge me today.  I am a grandmother.  Most days I do my best to avoid boring others with deluges of anecdotes and pictures of my grandchildren, but today is not one… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 22, Gems, Baubles and Beads

Sometimes I just have to step back from my disgust with politics, with the dismal outlook for middle class prosperity, abortion rights, environmental degradation, and the many other issues in the headlines which rile my blood and send me to… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 21, Inviting Back The Demons

I smile when I read my post of yesterday.  I did the very thing which I so often criticize in others: seeing another’s faults and wishing they would change.  And now I have projected my projections onto a global stage. … Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 20, Thoughts Looking for a Thinker

 At the likely risk that I am interpreting out of context, I like the idea of “thoughts in search of a thinker.”

In James S. Grotstein’s article in The International Journal of Psychoanalysis (2004. 85:1081-1101) entit… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 19, Possibilities

NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” a few days ago featured Stanley Fish and his new book, “How to Write A Sentence: And How To Read One.”  Wonderful broadcast. 

Callers contributed their favorite sentences.  One caller,… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 18, a Novel and a Nap

There is something particularly nice about a rainstorm on a Sunday afternoon.  It is not wonderful or marvelous, just nice.

It is nice because the weather cooperates with my want to reread the opening chapter of Jane Austen’s… Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 17, Sugar Cookies

I hope I never grow too old nor have my pallet become so snooty that I lose the delight of milk and cookies.  But not just any cookies.  There are some good store-bought ones on the market, but homemade are still best. … Read full post »

The Choice of Joy: Day 16, Before the Sunset

It is a sight unique to this time of year, the sun shining through the west window of my living room.  In Spring and Summer the leaves are on the trees and block out the strong sun rays. 

But… Read full post »