I love the snow. I love how it forces us to slow down and take pause. I especially love how a good snowfall puts Washington, D.C. into panic mode, as it has again this week, causing federal office buildings to shut down. I lived in the D.C. region for about eight years and the response […]

I’ve received a notice for jury duty. This isn’t a cause for panic. Goodness, no. I don’t need to panic. All I need to do is move to Alaska and hide under a rock for 10 or 15 years, or however long it takes for the judicial system to notice I didn’t show up in […]

In the days immediately following his decisive victory, President-elect Donald J. Trump was cruising right along. His avowed enemies, such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerburg, embattled Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough, scurried to Mar-a-Lago to kiss and make up. Then, the unlikely happened. During the Christmas and Hanukkah seasons, […]

Let’s kick off the new year with some humor (essential now more than ever) and then offer some hopes for 2025. Here are the limericks I presented at the New Year’s Eve party for Thornton Oaks, an event held between the senior-friendly hours of 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. “I’m glad you are here at […]

Janus, the Roman god of doorways and transitions, of looking both back and ahead, wonders what — beyond increments of added light — his month will offer this year. I hope that, for you and for me, it will be foot-rich and trail-limned. A trail ahead In late December, I visited the near future. A […]

As someone who cares about sustainability, you may be planning to take more steps to achieve sustainable living in 2025. Here at Sustainable Practice, we’ve developed seven pathways to sustainability. The community pathway plays a central role in this week’s column — our friends, families, and neighbors make our actions meaningful. We’ll share ideas for […]

It’s only a small issue, but it explains why talk about cooperation between the two parties is nothing more than a convenient myth, otherwise known as a lie. The Maine House Republicans complain that the governor has “nominated a former Democrat state legislator” to be Public Advocate. There it is: the persistent use by the […]

Several news outlets have noticed a certain coincidence: When Donald Trump is sworn in for a second time on Jan. 20, he will become just the second president to serve non-consecutive terms. The first, Democrat Grover Cleveland, was elected in 1884, narrowly lost in 1888, then returned to the presidency in 1892. Both he and […]