Spring and fall have been my favorite seasons for most of my life, yet I am seeing spring emerge with fresh eyes this year. As many of us have slowed our pace, verdant spring races ahead. I find myself acutely aware of its brisk transitions, and
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This is an opportune time to celebrate our hands. The notion has percolated in my brain since John Ballew, colleague and friend, introduced it in conversation earlier this week. As a pandemic circles the globe, news reminds us daily about the risk our possibly contaminated hands poses
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I know you’ve heard the phrase, “Too close for comfort.” In most cases, when we use it, we’re describing a near miss with some kind of danger—an automobile accident, a misstep coming down stairs or onto a curb, a potential mistake that might have been embarrassing, costly,
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Imagine a world where no birds sing…ever! One of the most joyless images I know is a repeated line in a poem by John Keats, La Belle Dame Sans Merci: “The sedge has withered from the lake, and no birds sing.” It conjures a bleak, lifeless, silent
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As I celebrate another birthday, my head is full of tales. Birthdays provide an annual impetus to reflect on the past while simultaneously setting goals for the future. Gene D. Cohen, a pioneer in geriatric mental health and aging research, would say I’m entering the “summing
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“Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I; but when the trees bow down their heads the wind is passing by.” Christina Rossetti On a rigorous climb to Máméan in Connemara, Ireland last summer, a hearty band of us passed a lone scrub tree, clinging to
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“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” —William Shakespeare Many people equate the term “Palliative Care” with giving up on life, or at least with end of life care. To be sure, skillful and humane end of life care utilizes palliative care, but it’s
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“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity.” -John Muir In capturing the essence of nature’s power to heal and restore us, poets have gotten it right for centuries. In the early 1800s,
Read more →“I may be President of the United States, but my private life is nobody’s damn business.” Chester A. Arthur During this past weekend, we have inaugurated a new President of the United States. While watching the ritual and celebration, we are hopeful that the next four years
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(Latin: doceō, I teach) I learned in medical school that the word, doctor, comes from the Latin word for teacher. I hold that thought closely... read more
These are articles I wrote while in private practice in the early 2000’s. These many years later, I still have folks who ask for links, so I’ve kept them active... read more
