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Shortly before daybreak on July 18th, Two sharp, tiny claws bored a hole in the ground. And crawling up from his dark birthplace beneath, A white nymph emerged without making a sound. Then, knowing not why - some deep instinct, I s'pose, He found a tall maple and started to climb. Soon, into bright sunlight young Albert arose, And found himself 30 feet high in no time. The instinct that told him to climb now said, "Stop!" So Albert latched onto the dry, ragged bark. And...
When it comes to complaining about getting old, I'd like to think I have a corner on the market. No one bemoans the fact that he's not a teenager more than me. I don't need to say it out loud. I'm reminded of it every morning when it takes me 10 minutes to get out of bed. But I have to tell you, I think I'll take those aches and pains over being a youngster in today's world. I'm not sure I could handle being a kid in 2024. The schedules are packed from morning until night. If...
When guests stop by our home these days, they're greeted with a scene straight out of a flea market. We're moving to a smaller home and emptying out cabinets and drawers in order to sort their contents into "Keep" and "Dispose Of" piles. Most of our larger items (mainly furniture) that clearly won't fit in the new house were sorted weeks ago and have already been promised to friends and family. All that's left now are the smaller, sentimental items that are so hard to give...
The cicadapocolypse is in full flight. I had hoped that, by some strange fluke of nature, our town would be spared the entomological onslaught. Sadly, I was wrong. All around us now are hundreds of thousands of these bugs. I have heard and read many people describe this event as “wondrous,” or “fascinating” or even “magical.” Of all the words of which I could think, these three are among the very last. Quite simply, they are revoltingly disgusting. They are big. They have f...
Unlike the fictional Southern belle Blanche DuBois, I have only rarely relied on the kindness of strangers, especially when it comes to travel plans. For help, I count on guidebooks and online travel sites such as Trip Advisor. Before a recent trip my husband, Joe, and I took to Washington, D.C., I found You Tube videos by Rob Pitingolo, who runs Trip Hacks DC Tours. I eventually adjusted to Pitingolo’s quirky speech pattern, which GOES something like THIS, paired with r...
I was definitely warned about junior year. I remember being in seventh grade and thinking about high school as this huge, foreboding experience that I would never get through. I would sit in my class, glad to be only in middle school, where the stakes felt low. People talked about high school, and when I got to high school, they still talked about high school. Maybe the fantasies of "High School Musical" rubbed off on everyone? Except for the part where everyone breaks into...
I've been thinking a lot about AI, specifically Generative AI. There are many discussions - some about AI replacing hundreds of thousands of jobs, some about the literal extinction that AI poses to homo sapiens. If AI does develop into super intelligence, what I call "The Entity," what will be the psychological effects on humans? I'm not worried about my generation. We've lived full lives. I'm worried about my children's generation and especially about my grandchildren's...
"What's his name?" we asked the young man at KLM park, some dozen years ago. At the end of the leash he held in his hand was an English bulldog, adorably plump and wrinkly. My daughter and I petted the dog, whose tail wagged furiously at us. "Juice Box," the man said. My daughter and I replied with delight, "Juice Box?! What an awesome name for a dog." The man laughed and said, "No, not Juice Box. Maddox." Or Randolph or Tree Tops or some other name that was not, in fact, Juic...
Last month my husband and two of our kids went to Ohio to visit family and be in the "zone of totality" for the solar eclipse. It was difficult for our middle daughter, a high schooler, and me, to take a day away from school and work. We had a memorable experience here. We put on protective glasses and had all sorts of fun with coworkers and friends. It was great. But when I saw the photos and heard accounts from my parents' backyard in Ohio with everyone together as the sky...
I recall the unsolicited advice I received before heading off to college. I didn't want nor care for the free wisdom at the time, only to recognize how prescient it was much later in life. So, for all the high school graduates headed to college this fall, I offer a few pearls of wisdom. And remember how lucky you are for the gift of the next four (or five) years. • Don't let your ideology become your identity. Having core personal beliefs - political, religious or otherwise -...
My son, Eli, and I recently returned from a quick two-day trip to Dallas. Our shared goal was to see as much good baseball as possible. My own objective was to soak up as much one-on-one time with him as I could. Everything about this stage of his life feels like it's reaching forward and away. His body is poised for a growth spurt, ready to emerge Hulk-like at the breakfast table. His voice is slowly deepening, his knowledge on many subjects far surpasses my own, and his...
Knowing the definition of irony is required before reading this column. Ready? OK. Hold on to your dictionaries. Irony is stalking me around every corner. And that's no small thing when you're trying to live - as the trendsetters say - your "best life." You're loving, you're caring, you're giving, you're successful. But irony is lurking. It's ready to pounce on your "best life" at any moment. Ah! How to avoid it? Well, we could avoid turning any corners. OK, OK. That's...
A few weeks ago, I had an appointment in the city and decided to take my preschool-aged daughter along for a girls' day out. We had a wonderful day planned, and we dressed for the occasion, in dresses and fancy shoes. We decided to take the train to make the day even more special. I had packed snacks and books and stickers, as I know all too well that a special day can go south if your young date becomes hungry or bored. The train was a bit full, so we couldn't sit on top as w...
March 15, 2020, marked the first day I worked from home due to the COVID pandemic. Everything about that day was different. I fired up my computer and just stared at the screen. As COVID raged, schools, businesses, churches and transportation hubs of all kinds suddenly shut down. Stores ran out of supplies. Goods ceased to flow to and from ports. Streets and towns were eerily empty. People got very sick, and in the end, millions died. Not just faceless people in far flung...
The beginning of the run is the hardest part. It takes time for your body to warm up, settle into a new rhythm and get used to the higher level of oxygen. People don't think that, though. They think that the longer you go, the harder it gets and the more tired you are. But that's not the case. I have been a runner for as long as I can remember. As a former athlete, running has always been a part of me. I've had the same 3-mile running route through Hinsdale since the seventh...
When I backed into a neighbors parked car a couple years ago, I developed a fear of driving through narrow spaces. Embarrassing? Absolutely. Seemingly irrational? Of course, but fear doesn’t always make sense. My sister visited recently and was highly amused as I slowly maneuvered through the Portillo’s drive-thru, my hands at 10 and 2, my car’s camera programmed on the screen to help guide me. “I should be videoing this and sharing it with the rest of the family,” she giggl...
As I began to write this column, I realized it would be published on Feb. 29, a leap day. Now as everybody knows, leap years only come once every four years, making them a special and somewhat rare occasion. However, for me at least, and I'm sure for many, they aren't very significant. And I don't mean to be rude to the lucky (or perhaps unlucky) few who get to have their birthday only once every four years. I wish you all a very happy birthday. Anyway, as I was pondering the...
This past football season, I finally realized a long-standing dream of mine to watch football 24/7. Impossible, you say? Way, I say. First of all, there is some kind of football on broadcast TV, cable TV, streaming, online, etc., nonstop, all day, every day. Now, don't get me wrong. You do have to be flexible. It's not all pro or college. Sometimes you have to watch games that were decided decades ago. Sometimes you have to watch high school football, flag football, Falcon...
I used to think that business travel was glamorous. This was back when it was called taking a "business trip," when '80s TV shows featured beautiful, cosmopolitan people in power suits. Before I chose medicine as my career, I imagined myself striding through the airport purposefully, designer briefcase in hand. I would do impressive and important paperwork on the plane, wow clients and colleagues at my destination, eat gourmet meals and stay at fabulous hotels courtesy of a...
I enjoy a good mystery. I found one Christmas Eve. A small, beautiful figurine was strategically placed next to a creche at my sister's house. I was immediately drawn to it: an elderly man, seated on a rock structure, dressed in old-world European garb, playing a bagpipe-like instrument. The detail and craftsmanship were stunning, down to the minute wrinkles in his face and tiny fingers on the pipes. It reminded me of a Lladro in quality and artistic aesthetic but crafted from...
My dad and I do not look one bit alike, but I did get one distinguishable trait from him: his love for movies. My own admiration began when I was a kid, when he would take my brother and me to see the big new movie. I loved the hours spent in the cold, dark theater, but my favorite part of these outings began when the movie ended. My dad would take us out to eat (Chipotle, California Pizza Kitchen, Portillo's) to review and discuss the movie - what our favorite scenes were,...
I grew up nestled together with my family of four on a puffin shaped lake in Michigan. My mom stayed at home and my dad managed his business in town. Lazy summers were spent on the water, and in winter we built snow forts, went ice skating or cozied up inside reading and watching movies. In lots of ways, my childhood was enchanting, but like many families, there were tiny fissures happening beneath the surface. During my junior year of high school, my parents decided to...
Sometimes high school feels like trying to board a train at a busy station. Platforms and classes and trains and deadlines and tickets and papers and times and due dates and people and people — so many people trying to hold on and get to their destinations. When winter starts to approach, all the passengers turn their focus toward riding to the end of first semester, waiting to finally be able to rest from the flurry of activity. But, for the past few years, final exams a...
We flew out Dec. 31 from O’Hare and the airport was completely empty. The weather was sunny, clear and 60 degrees. TSA waved us through, smiling and wishing us a wonderful flight. Then, they called us an airport transport and whisked us to our gate. The ground attendants upgraded us to first class and we boarded immediately. The captain came on the intercom and said we would arrive in New York City 40 minutes early due to the westerlies. Meanwhile, we drank champagne and ate c...
I've been thinking about presents. It's the season to do so, right? I'm not talking about gifts, which can be intangible or abstract; for example, the gift of friendship, of good health or family, etc. Rather, I've been thinking about the physical things we give one another, the things we shop for and wrap, exchange, perhaps even return. What are the best presents you've been given? I'm sure we've all been given presents that have been amazingly thought out, beautifully...
