[This is Part 2 of 2. Please find Part 1 here.] When we last checked in, I was a high school student enjoying the benefits of participation in theater arts and music. The value can best be described as a combination of eventual self-confidence that comes with repeat public performances compounded by the comfort in one’s skin that comes with …
An Unexpected Legacy For The Fruit Of My Loins (1 of 2)
I was a teenage Madrigal. That was the name of the highly competitive coed singing group I belonged to in high school. (I was also a member of another, less selective group, the Royal Knights. The entry requirements for that group were a pulse and a Y chromosome). The competition to join singing groups at our high school was cutthroat …
The Accumulation of Marginal Choices
A couple of mornings ago, as I took a final sip of my daily espresso, I noticed the dishwasher was full of clean dishes. I was thrust into the position of making a small but telling decision. Why does my reaction to a dishwasher full of clean dishes translate into a referendum on my character? For much the same reason …
Stuff
We have always been a family of collectors. When we were young, and traveled to Mexico frequently to visit family, my dad took great pleasure in bargaining with street vendors for “ironwood” carvings. My parents’ home has approximately twenty such carvings – display shelves full of multiple copies of graceful sea turtles, sleek dolphins, curved seals and numerous other creatures …