The Christmas season reminds us to be generous. Folks everywhere, religious or not, stock food pantries, collect warm coats and donate to charities. How about those who struggle with mental illness, which is one in five adults, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Extra kindness can make a difference. So much mental suffering […]
The heroes of Thanksgiving are the family cooks. They chop, slice, dice and roast. Like mathematicians, they figure out how to stagger five roasting pans over eight hours using one oven. They make it look so easy, greeting guests with a breezy, “Come on in!” even as they tick off a mental to-do list with […]
(Photo by Suzette Martinez Standring, Houghton’s Pond, Milton, MA) Thanksgiving celebrates togetherness and family feasting, and perhaps, it also calls for restraint. I am not talking about the groaning buffet and ten desserts. I am talking about not talking about hot button issues. Live for the greater good and show mercy to the poor cook […]
On Veterans Day, the enormity of war speaks. Acres of marble crosses face modern Manila in the Philippines, forever recalling the sacrifices made by American soldiers and Filipino allies during World War II. I was born in the U.S. of Filipino ancestry, and this is a “roots” trip for me. One powerful stop was the […]
Earth Day was founded in 1970 and Mamma Earth, our vivid, blue ball in space, still needs better loving. Last year recorded 7.6 billion people on earth, which can only sustain 9-10 billion based on available resources calculated by Edward O. Wilson, the father of sociobiology. Global habitation will choke before 2050, when the predicted […]