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The Stranger
I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land. Harriet Tubman July 8th was the 9th anniversary of my father’s death. He died at a memory care facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. I was at a Continue reading
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Mirror, Mirror
Let us be grateful to the mirror for revealing to us our appearance only. Samuel Butler Doppelgänger: The ghostly counterpart of a living person. From the German words doppel, meaning double, and ganger, meaning goer. I saw him only one time and that was 48 years ago. He was tall with really long, unkept, brown Continue reading
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Scenes From Gitchi-Gami
Wherever you go, go with all your heart. Confucius I cannot begin to express how deeply I love the North Shore of Lake Superior. I first traveled here July of 1979 and after having grown up in Arizona, it was almost like going to another planet. I knew the desert like the back of my Continue reading
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Walk it Like You Stole It — The 2024 Tofte Trek
The climb might be tough and challenging, but the view is worth it. There is a purpose for that pain; you just can’t always see it right away. Victoria Arlen I did my 27th Tofte Trek this morning. The Tofte Trek is a grueling 10k wilderness run that takes you up a mountain, across a Continue reading
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Siddhartha
That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong. F. Scott Fitzgerald I am always in the middle of a book (0r two or three). Currently, I am finishing up Ken Follet’s The Pillars of the Earth. Continue reading
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Baggage
A person is like a city. You shouldn’t let a few less desirable parts put you off the whole. There may be bits you don’t like, a few dodgy side streets and suburbs, but the good stuff makes it worthwhile. Matt Haig I have a friend who signed up with an online dating service. She Continue reading
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Death Does Not Become Me
Someone has to die in order that the rest of us should value life more. Virginia Woolf I remember the day my then 80ish-year-old father said, “Everyone I know is dead or dying.” I am many years shy of that age, but I am starting to experience more death than I care for. In the Continue reading
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Robert Steven Jeffery Prokop
In my life I have found two things of priceless worth – learning and loving. Nothing else – not fame, not power, not achievement for its own sake – can possibly have the same lasting value. For when your life is over, if you can say ‘I have learned’ and ‘I have loved,’ you will Continue reading
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Where is Your Spot?
When you get to a place where you understand that love and belonging, your worthiness, is a birthright and not something you have to earn, anything is possible. Brene Brown Have you read Carlos Castaneda’s The Teachings of Don Juan? It is the story of the author’s spiritual journey as guided by the Yaqui Indian shaman, Continue reading
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Man Boobs
I guess I don’t so much mind being old, as I mind being fat and old. Benjamin Franklin Gary stood naked before the mirror and grimaced. Although he had been denying it to himself for the last several years, there was no way to pretend any longer. He had man boobs. He tried sucking in Continue reading
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The Fallacy of Unlimited PTO
When you’re certain you cannot be fooled, you become easy to fool. Edward Teller I admit that the first time I heard about unlimited PTO (Personal Time Off) I was jealous. For my entire work life my vacation and sick days were governed by corporate policies that assigned days off according to the number of Continue reading
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My Mental Illness is my Superpower
There is no standard normal. Normal is subjective. There are seven billion versions of normal on this planet. Matt Haig A few years ago I was asked if I had a mental illness. The reason for the question is not important to this article, but the question is. This was a trusted friend who was Continue reading
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How Much AI is Too Much AI
There are more fools in the world than there are people. Heinrich Heine Have you noticed the new AI buttons that are showing up on a quite a few LinkedIn posts? Each button consists of a star icon and a question about the post. For example, this one appeared at the bottom of a post Continue reading
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The Home at the End of the Road
And for a reason he still did not understand, he began to cry. Love plain, simple, and so fast it shattered him. Toni Morrison I was low on gas and although I probably could have made it home without refilling, I decided not to chance it and pulled into the first gas station I came Continue reading
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Gold Watch
How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon? Dr Seuss People who know me well know that I can be a very nostalgic, sentimental person. I hold onto remnants Continue reading
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Cafe Unity
Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet. Plato A few weeks ago, I worked up enough courage to read some of my poetry at the 16th annual Unity Unitarian music, prose, and Continue reading
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Charles Schultz, Charlie Brown, and Me
Nothing spoils the taste of peanut butter like unrequited love. Charles Schultz Linda, our friends Sheila and Jeff, and I recently attended The Life and Art of Charles M. Schultz at the Minnesota History Center. Having been a lifelong fan of Charlie Brown and Peanuts, it was a very moving experience. From a very early Continue reading
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Memorial Day Remembrance
“Older men declare war, but it is youth that must fight and die.” Herbert Hoover Monday is Memorial Day and I can’t help but think about my deceased father and his service to his country. Like most men his age, my father spent his late teens and early twenties in some branch of the armed Continue reading
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All I Have to Fear
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold. Hellen Keller Just for fun, I went to Very Well Mind and glanced through the many phobias and fears it describes. Some were pretty amazing and several downright surprising. For example, who knew there were people Continue reading
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I Am More Comely Than You
Beauty awakens the soul to act. Dante Alighieri Several years ago I heard an interesting program on Minnesota Public Radio’s “Speaking of Faith.” The host, Krista Tippett, and her guest were discussing myths and stories from ancient times. One that really struck me had to do with desire between men and women. The story went that a woman Continue reading
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Can You Hear Me Now 