Past a certain age, people get the wrong idea when they don’t hear from you — I’m about to do a very scary thing — retreat into my story cave It might not seem that way to you. But for me, it makes my innards feel discombobulated, as though they’ve been slightly rearranged. Here’s the deal: I have a big trip coming up, one across the pond to France to celebrate my beloved better half’s big birthday later this fall.

Getting more done isn’t always the point — I have this thing about goals I set them for myself with near-religious zeal, from the overarching (live my life to the full) to the trivial (water the houseplants today before noon). …

I remember you. Just not your name — You can tell I’ve forgotten, can’t you? You’re too nice to point that out, of course, which in a way makes me feel even stupider. But I’m standing in the endless checkout line at the big-box retailer and you roll your shopping cart up behind mine and say, “Hi, Jan!” and I, startled out of wondering if…

For real — I am seeking your input — I’d love to hear from you Just like all bloggers, writers, and podcasters want to hear from their readers or listeners, I’m thrilled when I get a comment. Because I know this, I try to make sure I leave comments or otherwise reach out to the online creators whom I follow. But honestly, sometimes it’s a…

If I say so myself, and I certainly do — Sometimes good things come in two’s And sometimes schedules just coincide. Either way, today is the release date of two episodes from two different podcasts I’m involved in. I’m so tickled by them both that I’m over here, horn-tooting!

You showed us how to make a graceful exit — The problem with dogs is that they don’t live long Not long by human standards, that is. If Molly had been human, she wouldn’t even have had her driver’s learning permit. But Molly was a dog — a very, very good dog — and, at only weeks shy of her 15th birthday, she was also a very, very old dog. …

The hope and potential in cogeneration — I was on a Zoom last week with the Crow’s Feet podcast team ICYMI: In June, Crow’s Feet launched a monthly podcast, and I’m part of the production team. We have weekly Zoom meetings, and it’s probably no surprise that we often talk about the potential of people in their second or third acts of life. That’s potential that, in our youth-obsessed culture…

The weird resonance of numbers as summer nears its close — Maybe you already know this The term “dog days,” meant to denote the hottest stretch of summer weather, does not derive from panting pooches lolling in the heat with their tongues unfurled. …

Molly understands some things far better than I do — If Molly were human, she would be over 90 years old Roughly speaking, that is. There’s the old formula in which one year in a dog’s life equals seven in a human’s, but that’s been replaced by more nuanced metrics. …