This morning I took two dogs on a walk in Rock Creek Park. Gus is our 12-year-old standard poodle, a super chill guy, and Ralphie is my daughter's 10-pound Havanese.
Read MoreHappy New Year! I hope that everyone had a restful break. This year, rather than making resolutions, I have been letting them go. About eight years ago, I made the resolution to do sitting meditation every single morning. And until recently, I have kept that resolution, rising from bed very early, even in the darkest, coldest mornings, sitting through illnesses, sitting in hotel rooms, on planes, and even while in doctors' waiting rooms. But last month, something shifted...
Read MoreHappy Holiday Season! I remember when my kids were young and my parents would show up at our house for Christmas. My dad would still be turning off the engine and my mom would already be up on our front porch lugging several lawn-sized garbage bags filled with presents. She truly looked like Santa Claus when she arrived at our house, with full arms and a huge excited smile.
Read MoreI am sitting outside enjoying the sunshine and the solitude. Our 18 house guests from the last week just left, and I am basking in the quiet both outside and inside my mind. Amazingly, tonight will be the first night in 8 months where we won't have any guests staying at our house. I thought that at this moment I would feel exhausted and relieved, which I do, but I will also miss the community and connection...
Read MoreNext week my son heads off to France for a gap year between high school and college. He is pretty excited about it, and we have begun planning which suitcases he will bring, buying him a new suit for his internship, and figuring out how he is going to get all of his stuff from here to there. And while we were planning, I remembered a time when he was ten years old and we went on a two-day trip to Cleveland...
Read MoreHappy 4th of July! One of my favorite childhood memories is spending Independence Day in my mom's hometown of Algonac, Michigan. In Algonac, the week leading up to the 4th was always the "Pickerel Tournament," which consisted of a very rickety but fun carnival and an ongoing fishing tournament,which I completely ignored. The big finale for the week was always the 4th of July parade...
Read MoreWe had the wonderful pleasure of hosting a family of robins on our family room overhang this month. It began when we saw the mother robin frantically putting together nests in four potential sites, scattering a huge pile of sticks and shiny threads on our patio. She apparently decided against someone's old birthday balloon because she left it dangling in front of our window. She did finally settle on the "best" location, the one closest to our kitchen window...
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A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting my family in Michigan. While I'm there, I always try to have a sandwich at Olga's Kitchen restaurant.
Read MoreHappy February! I hope that you have endured the freezing temperatures and ice this past month, and have been staying warm with your yoga practice. After the death of our 12-year-old chocolate Lab about a month ago, our 11-year-old Standard Poodle started acting strangely. Our dogs had been together for nearly 11 years. In 2000, when we brought home Gus, an 8-week-old poodle, he met Coco, who was 18 months old at that time.
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