If you’re casting about for a way to take the edge off Trump’s wrecking ball, I heartily recommend the uplifting powers of a great...
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Mask Wars, “Don’t Look Up,” Ann Patchett & More
Mask Wars in Portland, Maine I was sickened to read in today’s Portland Press Herald that the vociferous mask wars have heated up in my hometown of Portland, Maine. This week the City Council passed a resolution requiring masks in all public places. The councilman, Andrew Zarro, who sponsored the ordinance has received death threats, [...]
Pat Taub
A Christmas Orphan, Joan Didion, “Being the Ricardos” & More
Being A Christmas Orphan The surging Omicron virus had me scuttling my holiday plans to fly to Chicago to spend Christmas with my oldest son and his family. It was a hard decision, but it feels like a case of “Better safe than sorry.” Like many families, who are separated this year due to Covid, we will Zoom or FaceTime on Christmas [...]
Pat Taub
My Search for Meaning
Aging has brought a renewed interest in the spiritual questions I grappled with during my late-night college bull sessions. Is there a God? Can prayer make a difference? What is my spiritual path? In my middle years I was too busy raising children and building a career to grapple with meaning of life questions with the intensity of my [...]
Pat Taub
Gifts from the Heart: Mementos and Memories
GUEST POST by JANET WEIL Like probably everyone reading this, I have been flooded with catalogs lately. After my father-in-law died, I handled his mail, including many catalogs as he enjoyed this kind of shopping for family gifts, and I started the mail order madness. Now I’m struggling to get off their lists. That made me think about what [...]
Pat Taub
Thank You’s I Never Got to Say
Poet Victoria Chang’s new book, “Dear Memory,” consists of letters to her deceased parents, asking them questions that have plagued her about her Chinese ancestry. Chang started me thinking about my own incomplete conversations with deceased relatives and close friends. I decided to write my own letters to the dearly departed, but with [...]
Pat Taub
Mary Robinson, “Women and Nature,” “Passing” & More
Mary Robinson at COP26, Glasgow This week at the Glasgow UN Climate Conference, Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland and the current chair of The Elders at the UN, took aim at world leaders, who unlike poorer countries, are not in “crisis mode.” During a BBC interview she broke down, speaking through tears, beset with worry [...]
Pat Taub
Halloween, Mia Mottley, “The Nutmeg’s Curse” & More
Halloween My spirited 17 y.o. granddaughter from Oak Park, Il. dressed as the Grim Reaper for Halloween. Her costume symbolizes the concerns of so many young people, who are desperately worried about their future during these times of climate emergency. Videos from Glasgow show throngs of young climate activists cramming city blocks around [...]
Pat Taub
Combatting Loneliness
“I hate coming home to an empty house. The silence can be deafening.” “I can go days without speaking to anyone except the clerk in the grocery store or my mail carrier.” “I rarely reach out to my friends when I’m feeling lonely because I’m too embarrassed to admit I’m lonely.” “My adult daughter tells me to [...]
Pat Taub
An American in Paris
It didn’t take much persuasion when my youngest son phoned and said, “Mother, you have a birthday on October 1st. You haven’t treated yourself in a while. What about a birthday trip to Paris?“ Jonathan offered to accompany me and be my travel guide. This is the son whose adolescence antics drove me up the wall. Maturity is a [...]
Pat Taub
My Brother Visits, Cecile Richards, Book and Film Tips & More!
A Visit from My Brother Earlier this week my brother, Curry, who’s 20 months younger than me, visited me in Portland. He’s a retired Civil Liberties lawyer who lives in Asheville with his second wife. Curry and I walked, talked and ate out a lot, while lamenting over the future our kids and grands face as climate change accelerates. [...]
Pat Taub