By Deborah Jones Sherwood Avoid Santa Claus. Whether he’s sitting on a big red velvet throne at a shopping mall, or standing on a street corner ringing a bell, stay far, far away! Never tell him what you want for Christmas or grumble about your life. Wishes and complaints can […]
Chucking It Out and Sparking Joy
By Deborah Sherwood Although I haven’t yet been invited to be a featured guest on the TV show Hoarders, I must confess that I have been negligent in keeping my small apartment tidy. Unquestionably, a bit of organizing is long overdue. I rummage through a towering stack of books, searching […]
The Send Button and Other Regrets
By Deborah Sherwood What a lovely, peaceful afternoon. The Christmas tree and decorations are packed away, the gingerbread men cookie crumbs rest inside the vacuum cleaner bag, and according to the actuarial life table, odds are I’ll make it through another year. The pandemic prohibited me from hosting my annual […]
Silent Night on a Silent Christmas Eve
By Deborah Sherwood The Christmas carol, Silent Night, has no definitive origin. Some accounts say it was a poem written in 1818 by an Austrian priest who asked a musician to compose an accompanying melody. Other legends tell of a broken organ with the priest and the composer singing the […]
The Elderly Lady Next Door
By Deborah Sherwood I am a Baby Boomer–part of a group of post-war Americans born between 1946-1964. As a child, I hula-hooped, watched the Mickey Mouse Club, and dreamed of being a carhop at the local A&W. As a teen, I swooned over The Beatles and danced “The Twist.” My […]
Staycation: Area Code, Southwest
By Deborah Sherwood Working from home has its perks. Daily commutes in rush hour traffic have evolved into trudging from the bedroom to a laptop on the kitchen table next to the box of Frosted Flakes, shoved out of webcam view. Whacking the snooze button has become a morning exercise. […]