At lightning speed, Trump is chucking the constitution and flaunting cruel racist policies, throwing many Americans into despair. Climbing...
Magic, Remembering James Baldwin, My Garden & More!
A Bit of Magic I still believe in magic, like this sighting from my downtown Portland window. Imagine my surprise when I pulled my blinds the other morning to spot a bunch of polka-dotted balloons tied to a fire hydrant right outside my window. I’m sure there’s a rational explanation but I prefer to believe, since I love polka dots [...]
Pat Taub
Practicing Kindness to Lift the Darkness
Each new racist tweet from the Orange Monster, each new horrifying account of migrant children in detention, each new dire climate change warning plunges me deeper into despair. To survive I go about my days pushing my despair underground. Last week a stranger’s simple act of kindness pulled me into the light, shifting my perspective. My [...]
Pat Taub
To ”Bibimania!” – Aging à la française
GUEST POST by JORINDE VAN DEN BERG I am an aging Dutch-American woman, who has visited France regularly for about half a century. When I moved to the U.S., I noticed the ambiguous portrayal of French women in the American media: a love-hate relationship vacillating between sheer adoration and jealousy of those “froggies” (not my words!) [...]
Pat Taub
No Sex for Me
During a recent Sunday brunch with two single women friends both, like me, in their ‘70’s the conversation turned to sex, but not in the same way it did when we were decades younger, sharing juicy tidbits about our sex lives. This time the conversation centered on how sex had lost its appeal. One friend, B confessed to losing interest [...]
Pat Taub
Fierce Role Models, Summer Sightings, The War on Migrant Families
Fierce Role Models While the world is rapidly going to hell in a hand basket I find hope in the brave young women taking a stand for their beliefs. Megan Rapinoe, the star US Women’s soccer player has repeatedly spoken out, insisting that professional women’s soccer receive the same pay as their male counterparts. Rapinoe addressed [...]
Pat Taub
Combatting Helplessness
I belong to a welcoming church in downtown Portland, Maine led by a socially conscious minister who unflinchingly embraces difficult issues. Last Sunday, she took to the pulpit to voice her outrage at the inhumane treatment of imprisoned migrant children. I was surrounded by rapt, concerned faces, many visibly moved, but once the service was [...]
Pat Taub
Horrible News Week, Women’s Soccer, Tulsi Gabbard & More
Horrible News Week This week has been one where I’ve been royally challenged by all the depressing news: the Supremes’ Ruling to allow gerrymandering to proceed is a major blow to free elections; the horrific stories of migrant kids in concentration camps being denied medical care, soap, toothbrushes, outdoor exercise, etc.; Pelosi’s [...]
Pat Taub
When You Long For an Apology . . .
Eve Ensler’s groundbreaking new book, The Apology opens with these words: I am done waiting. My father is long dead. He will never say the words to me. He will not make the apology. So it must be imagined. For it is in our imagination that we can dream across boundaries, deepen the narrative, and design alternative outcomes. Ensler [...]
Pat Taub
This Isn’t Exactly What We Had Planned*
* Carly Simon, “Legend in Your Own Time” GUEST POST by ANNE PENWAY This was not supposed to happen. Not when it did. I expected my midlife would include caregiving for my parents. And it did. I was the first responder to gradually escalating parental health crises for sixteen years. I expected to outlive my husband. Most women do. The [...]
Pat Taub
Portland has a Good Week, “A Handmaid’s Tale,” Pride Parade & More!
Maine Initiatives Last night I attended the annual cocktail party/award gathering of Maine Initiatives, founded in 1993 to fund grassroots and community-based organizations working for peace and justice. It was wonderful to see a huge crowd that was both multi-racial and multi-ages. It gave me hope to see such an outpouring of Mainers [...]
Pat Taub