Losing the State Fair contest and gaining perspective. — “Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam!” — Monty Python’s Flying Circus, sketch and legendary source name for unwanted junk email. The woman next to me took lipstick and a compact out of her purse. She wore a lot of make-up, considering it was a sweaty summer day at the…

Then, the longest suspension bridge and 8th Wonder of the World — Emily Roebling took the first carriage to cross the finished Brooklyn Bridge. The rooster beside her was for luck. Maybe he crowed, as she undoubtedly wanted to crow. Maybe her luck depended on his being a rooster, not a hen. As she wrote to her son, “I have more brains…

Seventy percent of this group’s over-50 travelers are women — I have traveled with a partner and with several tour groups. I will only travel with Road Scholar from now on, after several trips with them. People like tour groups for various reasons, so one tour group is not a match for everyone’s priorities. Road Scholar is a popular option…

The happiness curve in the U.S. is lowest for unmarried 40-somethings — I was curious why I still get claps for a comment on Shari Lopatin’s Middle-Pause story about the stressors on the 40-something unmarried woman. The story was published several months ago but is still read. It relates the stresses on the singular woman in her 40s. (I don’t use the…

Staying vigilant against hidden chemicals “Oma, you smell stinky,” said the beloved grandchild. I looked up from my hug with alarm. Out of the mouths of babes, and all that. “Let me change my clothes,” I said. “No, no, don’t do that, let’s play Barbie.” I remembered a friend of…

Holiday lights are welcome at the darkest time of year — It is the darkest time of the year. Those of us in the northern hemisphere have entered that countdown to Solstice. I live near the 45th parallel, so by 3:30 pm, I have to get out for a walk if I am going to get home before dark. The first…

The sleeping beauty I got instead of a kitten. — She is an old person’s cat. Her backstory, per the animal rescue agency, is that her person died, the adult daughter wasn’t home enough, and the cat went to a rescue agency. She is a Norwegian Forest cat, a breed new to me. She has very long hair, and is…

When a broken heart might mean A-fibrillation — I needed to wear a heart monitor years ago. If only monitors could track broken hearts, heartlessness, neediness, and appropriateness. I am wearing a heart monitor for two weeks to track A-fib, which may or may not indicate a need for a pacemaker, because the rhythm is erratic. The sinus…

What is your measurement? By mine, yes. — I have gained reader engagement. Part of that big increase in reader engagement is how the statistics are calculated now, vs. how they used to be calculated. Our percentage of reads are Medium members who read the article/Medium member views. My engagement on a particular story might be 80% instead…