Blog

March 16 , 2024 /

WHY WE WRITE

I have been thinking a lot lately, along with some other folks, why I write, what I write about, what my intentions are and what, if any, difference it makes.  I hear back from some readers and subscribers enough that reinforces my continuing to take the time and make the effort to pen something at

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March 11 , 2024 /

LIFE, DEATH AND IN BETWEEN

Orig. 12/11/23   Rev. 3/11/24 Death comes for all of us regardless of our age.  In 2022, about 3.27 million deaths were reported in the United States and here’s a breakdown of the causes as reported in 2021: The top 10 causes accounted for almost 75% of all deaths in the U.S. in 2021. Heart disease

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March 5 , 2024 /

LETTER TO 11 OF 14 GRANDCHILDREN OVER 18

Dear ones, I have watched you with great interest and much love since you were born, followed you through your early years with your parents, and through your first 12 school years, then college and most of you in your first jobs in your chosen fields.  I am proud of each one of you not

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February 28 , 2024 /

QUALITY OF LIFE REVISITED

(Featured photo: Courtesy of Beth Macdonald) For those of us in our later years, we know what Atul Gawande means as he documents the importance of the quality of life in his book, “Mortality: Medicine and What Matters in the End” Atul talked with Juergen Bludau, a geriatrician, who told him the job of any

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February 25 , 2024 /

FROM BOTH SIDES NOW

Naming something or giving it a title is a frustrating exercise for me because I want it to be accurate and descriptive.  For 12 years, my blog posts had the name BLOG. I know what that means but it sounds like blob to me and now that I am on Substack and get published in

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February 21 , 2024 /

WHY WE MOVED TO MEXICO

One day I said to S. “I think we should drive up to Green Valley (AZ) and look at La Posada.”  That is a retirement community that offers three levels of living – independent, assisted and final stages including memory care.  She said, “You’re not ready for that,” implying the assisted living feature and I

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February 18 , 2024 /

CHILE CON FRUTAS

I am not a vegetarian nor a rabid carnivore. I believe in moderation in eating and am fortunate to enjoy an inclusive, diverse diet .  Given a choice between meat or fresh fruits and veggies, I will take the latter.  Carne (meat, especially beef) plays large in the diets and menus in Argentina and Chile. 

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February 11 , 2024 /

TOUCHING DOWN IN ARGENTINA

In Italian and Venetian, Argentina (masculine argentino) means”(made) of silver, silver colored”, derived from the Latin “argentum” for silver. The earliest description of the region by the word Argentina has been found on a Venetian map in 1536. Silver and leather crafts and products are sold everywhere, even in gift shops at gas stations.  

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February 6 , 2024 /

POST CARD FROM RIO

I wondered why Rio de Janeiro?   The Portuguese arrived January 1, 1507 at Guanabara Bay and mistakenly thought it was the mouth of a river and named it in honor a saint.  St. Sebastian de Rio de Janeiro.   The cathedral in Rio is St. Sebastian and 70% of Brazil is Catholic.  Rio was the capital

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