Fuzzy-belly therapy

Bee balm wasn’t one of the wildflowers I found back home in summer, but it blooms a lot down here, both wild and cultured varieties. Usually I would find black-eyed Susans, coreopsis, mullein, and the like; if I was lucky, I might find some wild phlox or vervain. Once upon a time, I enjoyed summer. Of course, I was a kid then. Who wouldn’t like months off from schoolwork (and yet I still spent a…

Some dogs are dumb as posts (my parents’ dog Blackie certainly qualified, though her mom Pepper was smart), and some cats are so smart they seem evil and calculating to those who are not inclined to the feline. Much depends on nature and nurture, so a broad generalization like this fails. Image found on YourDictionary. Many, including me, have warned about the dangers of broad (hasty, in the…

Sometimes the letters just jump off the desk and attack me, which is a miracle since most are now email and I no longer print them out. Image found on SAFE California. Most of my time on the job is spent editing letters and columns, reading proofs, writing, and combing through submissions. I’ll admit I don’t always answer my correspondence in a timely manner (and there are some people I just…

Accurate. GIF found on giphy. The simple fact is that I was not built for heat. Besides being old and fat, IBS can make things … complicated (to say the least; sharts are a very real danger) in summer. Add to that my general persnicketiness when the summer’s heat bears down, and you have the makings of the ultimate curmudgeon. And you kids, get off my lawn. Except I’m pretty sure the bulk of…

Patriotism isn’t predicated on whether you support a particular political party. Image found on CatHealth. Since Saturday is the 250th anniversary of our nation, I would be remiss not to talk about the true meaning of patriotism, especially at a time when so many are espousing a Christian nationalistic version that belies the ideals of our forefathers. I was in kindergarten in the lead-up to…

I mean, seriously, the signs have always been there. Sometimes you discover things about yourself in the most ordinary conversations. While updating bestie Sarah (by text, since she moved away 😭) on my progress with two new cat-sitting clients/fur-kin, I noted that though they were still wary of this new person in their house, they were perhaps “starting to understand I’m just an overgrown…

I needed to burn off excess columns, and play with the sweet girls I’ve been watching (I’ll be home prepping for the next gig by the time you read this). Back next week! Ruby is just the sweetest. I have no idea where Phoebe might have gone.

I look kinda worried here. No surprise. My mama always told me I came out of the womb worrying (and two weeks early, spoiling her plan for a baby in each week of January, so yeah, I’m impatient too). It should come as no surprise, then, that I worry about my family (blood and chosen) and friends who are part of the LGBTQIA community, all the time, really, but especially during Pride Month.…

Get a load of the size of the Etymology Monthly! Cartoon by John Deering. It’s been a while since I’ve been truly nerdy on the Voices page. OK, gleefully word-nerdy; I have been civics-nerdy recently, such as my column on democracy a couple of weeks back (that was a little word-nerdy, but serious). But a recent visit with a friend and one of my fur-nephews introduced me to a type of speech I…

Even my favorite Doctor is rolling his eyes over all this crap. GIF found on giphy. Sometimes my eyes roll so much that I fear I’ll have to catch them before they tumble out of my head and provide one of my fur-nephews or nieces with a fun new toy. Good luck getting the dust and cat hair off those. In the comments on my column last week, my original troll (he of the “game, set, match, I win,…

Just say no to the know-it-alls of the world who don’t, in fact, know it all, and insist on correct definitions. GIF found on giphy. It’s been a while since I’ve talked about cognitive biases. Considering that Monday is Memorial Day and we have people going around claiming the United States, for which military members and others have fought and died, is not a democracy, perhaps it’s time I…

Human, this bitch slap is for your own good. Stop believing everything on the Internet! On the other hand, cat GIFs are one of the best things on the Internet, so believe in those. GIF found on LazerHorse. The Internet is great for many things: bringing people together, streaming entertainment (I don’t have cable, so that’s how I watch TV), allowing quick access to products and services around…

This would be a good definition. Yet MAGA trolls keep trying to pretend they’re normal. Image found on DIY.org. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few decades of observation of partisans, it’s that people who describe themselves as “normies” usually aren’t that normal. While once used by alcoholics and people with disabilities to refer to those without such, since about the early…

Readers of my newspaper column will notice I didn’t have a column today; I had been thinking about writing this, but knew it needed more thought, so I leapt at the chance to run an Earth Day column from a friend. Then I thought that perhaps the topic would probably be too much for a family newspaper, so it will just be here. While I might pick up some of the threads next week for my column, I…

It really costs nothing to be kind. If you can’t do that, at least don’t be a douchbag. Image found on Walden University. As much as talking about kindness the past couple of weeks has cheered me, it’s time to get back into more serious matters. We’ve spent several months with no shortage of letters, thanks largely to the craziness (not the fun kind) going on in the world, but that somewhat…

This has been me a lot lately when I open up social media or read the news. GIF found on Tenor. As I write this, I have no idea what the next few days will bring, especially considering the profanity-laden post made by the president over the weekend, plus the one Tuesday promising “a whole civilization will die tonight.” No one ever said he was a diplomat … except maybe him and those who kowtow…