Retirement Stinks? A Tale of a Stink Bug and the ER

Around 3 am on Friday morning, a stink bug who’d been buzzing around our bedroom got suddenly quiet. Usually I’m not horrified by the occasional stink bug that wanders into my house. As bugs go, they’re not so bad. Their bodies look like small...
When EVERYONE Came to My Yard

When EVERYONE Came to My Yard

A couple of nights ago I went for a walk and when I returned, everyone had showed up in my yard. Literally. An index card with the word “everyone” neatly written in marker was nestled in the grass in front of my dogwood tree. A tiny ant was making a...
To See Or Not to See

To See Or Not to See

I noticed him walking toward us as we headed down a street I didn’t know. Chicago is a big city, I’m a little directionally challenged, and it was just me and Sarah, my grown daughter. I wasn’t sure what this homeless man would do. Was he mentally...
What Happens When You Eavesdrop on the Subway

What Happens When You Eavesdrop on the Subway

I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. Or maybe I did. Either way, my Nosey Nancy self got herself a gift last week on vacation and my brain is still turning it over, examining it, chuckling over the wonder of it, and rationalizing my habit of bumping into things because I...
Stepping into Paintings– Treasures I Found There

Stepping into Paintings– Treasures I Found There

Do you know this chair? You may recognize it as Van Gogh’s, a chair with his pipe and tobacco on the seat, his distinctive signature on the box behind it. But when I look at it, I see a love story- for him and for me! Well that’s dramatic, Becky. It is!...