Nobody warned me about my first landlord — an unstable drug-addicted psychiatrist.

Visible and invisible scars — I was suspicious when the nurse started the Baby Animals in the Wild video in the waiting room. I watched lion babies wrestle in the tall grass. I had just completed my first mammogram. You have little white spots on your pictures, the nurse explained. I needed to wait until…

Five things I am learning while reading David Copperfield — One of my first medium stories bombed. I assumed it would be funny to have Charles Dickens offer writing advice with a cockney accent. That story was too obscure and time-consuming for readers — who had to decode it — and poorly titled. A handful of people graciously read it…

Today is my favorite Valentines’ Day ever. That’s not because of flowers, chocolates, or poetic cards, or that I am falling in love or turning Hallmark cheesy as I age. I am celebrating my brother-in-law, Tom’s, new heart. Tom has received numerous cardiac treatments due to valve and artery issues…

Long-Awaited Return — I’m flying to Japan in two days. I can’t concentrate on much of anything else. Writing stories has taken a temporary back seat. It’s been 40 years since I lived there. I don’t remember how to speak the language. I’ve been refreshing my meager language skills on Duo Lingo. I…

More Jimmy, less Johnson and cronies — The first time I voted in a national election was for Jimmy Carter in 1976. I had high hopes for Carter’s years in office. He was a man of conviction who lived according to his faith, but didn’t congratulate himself on his beliefs and lifestyle. …

Not snobbery just a fine-tuned ear and eye for good stories — If such a thing as a New Yorker addict exists, I’m one of them. Every time I start reading a book, I get pulled back into The New Yorker stories. I do most of my reading right before I go to sleep. Sometimes I can finish a story before I…

Poetry — There are seasons between seasons without names except for what each person calls them. There are early autumn cold snaps when ice lingers on rooftops until nearly noon, and only a few flowers thrive — calendula and cosmos, blooming despite the frost Hardly anyone walks as far as the lake once…

Consulting with a self-proclaimed expert — I’d been fretting about whether re-homing my red cattle dog, Tex, was the right decision. One friend was pissed. While I was researching the psychology of decision-making, I stumbled across the work of Dr. Millie Hootenholler who calls herself Dr. Fortune Teller. Dr Hootenholler described her neuropsychology research as groundbreaking…