Squirrelwatcher

Our apartment balcony overlooks a patch of urban ecosystem. It’s a bunch of trees at the edge of a neighbor’s yard that are half dead and covered with flowering vines. My desk is by the balcony door so I sometimes join our cats in the delightful critter watching. I’m not a classy birdwatcher like my … Read more

Mom’s Party with Her Students!

Mom with her ESOL students

I’m back home from our district assembly and catching up on email. I was delighted to find photos from my Mom’s birthday celebration. Even though my mom has been the caregiver for my father since his heart surgery, she continues to teach English as a second language as a volunteer every Saturday. Her students mean … Read more

Happy 80th Birthday Mom!

Bethyl Davis Wood 1962

I’m writing from the Pacific Southwest District Annual Assembly in Riverside, CA where I’m having a great time so far. However, my thoughts are with my mother who turned 80 today in South Carolina – so far away! I managed to put together a gift basket and get it in the mail in time, which if you know me was a big accomplishment. I filled it with goodies including little chocolates that my mother likes to have after dinner, a yummy smelling candle and to make it a “turning 80” theme I added a box of “Senior Memory Mints.” (I could actually use memory mints myself!)

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Expectations

I hate to admit it but the steady approach of my 40th birthday has had me feeling especially out-of-sorts. Birthdays are always a time that I find myself examining my life for signs of progress and accomplishment. This sets up a bit of a conflict in my psyche since I have also been influenced by … Read more

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad’s 87th birthday. Way back when I first discovered the magic of Googling names for fun, I Googled my Dad’s name: Dr. Burrell L. Wood, Jr. Trying various combinations, I found cool things like this excerpt from 1942 in the Journal of Organic Chemistry (see citation below) located at the American Chemical … Read more

Last Night

We had a frightening reminder of how our stay on this earth can suddenly come to an end. We were at our desks when we first heard the helicopters. Not a totally uncommon occurrence in an urban area. We first thought, “Who are the cops chasing now?” Then Neil realized that there were five helicopters … Read more