Do you ever feel sad around your birthday? I do.

Even though I typically feel some sadness or melancholy around my birthday, that feeling caught me unprepared this morning. After all, it's a clear-blue-sky sunny day after a night of thunderstorms. Everything feels clearer, sharper. More alive. Except me. It's my birthday week. A reminder that I'm aging quickly, that life has gotten harder in …

Cove, Hog Jowl, and Daughtery Gap Roads: My favorite autumn drive in Walker County, GA

Brilliant autumn days don't come along that often, so I knew I had to get out and enjoy this one.

Honoring Your Traumaversary

Even if we aren't conscious of these traumaversaries, they have an impact on us. Because—on some level—we remember the pain and connect it with that time of year.

Considering My Own Racism: The time I opposed an MLK holiday

Since I started this blog series over a year ago, I've been much more aware of my thoughts and actions regarding race. And with that awareness more memories are popping up. When I was reading Michelle Obama's memoir Becoming, one of her experiences reminded me of a time when I spoke from a racist perspective …

Acupuncture: I’m afraid to jinx myself, but . . .

Yeah, I'm a bit superstitious, so I'm hesitant to share my good news about acupuncture. But here goes, jinxes be damned! First, my background with acupuncture. Seven plus years ago I had several rounds of acupuncture during my chemo treatment time periods. I think it helped, but since I didn't have a "normal" baseline, I …

Considering My Own Racism: What’s in a name?

Do we pre-judge each other by our names? Yes, we do. Or at least I do. As a new topic in this blog series as I look at my own racial prejudices (my pre-judging), I've been considering names. Does my racism start when I learn someone's name? What if I were the person who does …

Considering My Own Racism: Two recent shopping situations

I think there was an unwritten rule: Do business with people of your own race.