Taxi ride in New York City in 1978

“What’s his medallion number?” Debbie quietly asked me. I was in the in the front seat of a taxi in New York City. Debbie was wedged in between me and the door. This was not going to end well.

7 movies about changing the world around us

What do a 100-year-old Swedish man, a boy in Africa, a French pianist, a young lawyer, a police detective and a book club have in common?

The man who would be top dog, pitched a fit too many and fired himself

For years I worked an industrial job. Part of a very oddball team. But we made things work. Then Hansson came along.

A penpal on the other side

Early ‘70s. The Cold War was still very cold. With no end in sight. Ever. And I had a penpal in East Berlin. Even went over there to meet in person.

Keep calm and carry on?

It was a regular Sunday morning at St. Andrew’s Church. Except as I looked into the sanctuary, it was way darker than usual. I realized electricity was out. How would this work out?

To be or not to be — or rather: to live or to exist

We each have so many years (which we don’t know up front) and then we’re done.

“It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something.” ―Winston S. Churchill

Welcome to serendipity

Happy accidents. Chance encounters or events that lead to things we couldn’t have imagined.

“Serendipity is the faculty of finding things we did not know we were looking for.” — Glauco Ortolano

Escaping the midwinter blues

Winter can be a season of dreariness. Feel gloomy. Feel like it’s lasting forever. Here are 9 tips for beating those midwinter blues.

Now is the winter

Some people would just as soon escape it altogether. Others like it. For the most part.

Winter is a unique time of the year. And a vital part of the annual cycle.