And now for something completely different …

… how about we all get on the same page?

Am I the only one getting really fed up with all the mixed messages regarding the third vaccine? I don’t understand why everyone’s saying something different and there’s a new variation of the story every day.

First it started with Pfizer, who announced months ago that they thought it was necessary for people to have a third vaccine and they applied for FDA approval. Immediately — and surprisingly I have to say — the CDC, Dr. Fauci and the White House disagreed.

The pause that refreshed …

Life is crazy and challenging and chaotic and uncertain. Not just for me, for everyone, everywhere. It’s important for our mental, emotional and physical well-being to shut the world out from time to time, to live in the light, to find joy.

Well, that certainly happened for me last Sunday … 

… when I was lucky enough to be one of about 35 people who attended a casual, intimate, private, classical music concert. Not in the evening, in a darkened concert hall, which is what you’d expect. This concert took place in the afternoon, in a sun-drenched living room.

And on this day the living room happened to belong to a friend and former colleague — Bryan Tenenhouse and his wife Cori Halpern. But it could take place in my living room or yours.

Have you ever heard of Groupmuse? I confess I had not, until Bryan posted on Facebook about a concert at a friend’s home he and Cori went to last Spring. At the time he wrote that he and Cori loved it so much they wanted to host one themselves. Which they did, over two glorious hours, on Sunday afternoon.

What an extraordinary idea it is. Anyone can host. Anyone can attend. That’s right, you don’t have to know

Fingers crossed …

Hell, I’ve got everything crossed, including my eyes. Today’s a big day. Mid-term elections in the U.S. and I’ve got to say my emotions are all over the place. One minute the polls seem hopeful and then I remember what the polls showed during the 2016 presidential election. So I’m not getting ahead of myself.

You might be wondering why I’ve got my knickers in such a twist, me being Canadian and all. Easy. You don’t have to be an American to be sickened or afraid of what’s going on in the land of the less-free-than- it-used-to-be. The current reign of terror impacts all of us, no matter where in the world we live — the

Feeling inspired and hopeful

The world is horribly messed up. But amid all the darkness and misery I am beginning to see some positive signs.

Strange as it might sound, I started to feel this way after last week’s tragic shootings at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. It was the reaction of the students who survived.

Because despite their shock, their fear, their anger, their

When I was 17 …

Don’t worry, I’m not about to break into song. You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you? Frank Sinatra? “It Was A Very Good Year?”  I think it was specially written for him. Well the first line is, “When I was 17 …”

Never mind.

When I was 17 my parents sent me on one of those teen tours. For six weeks we traveled throughout Canada, the U.S. and down into