One of my favorite things to do is sit. I like it almost as much as lying down and way more than kneeling, squatting, crouching, stooping or bowing. Bowing is terrible. Luckily, I’ve managed to do it only twice. I organize my day to maximize sitting time. If a certain [...]

Empty bottles of hand sanitizer are strewn about like shotgun shells on an abandoned battlefield. The hum and clank of our washing machine combined with the syncopated rhythm of cats batting around used paper towel rolls provides some white noise. It’s tranquil here since the influenza agreed to a temporary cease-fire. Retching, [...]

If these look familiar, it’s because they are also the seven stages of grief. Shock and Denial During this stage, a parent is taken aback when it appears their child isn’t listening. Because they want to believe their child respects them, the parent assumes the child must not have heard [...]

The house cat’s only natural predator is a 2-year old boy. Our feline (Oliver) cannot rest for fear of being sat upon or aggressively preened. He’s subjected to various kinds of aural and physical torture; not for information, but something far more frightening: thrills. Imagine you’ve been taken hostage, and [...]

Arlo (2) won’t stop pressing his body up against the fireplace doors. Last week I wrote that maybe the best solution was to wait until the fire taught him a lesson, but after days of experimenting, it appears the fire doesn’t get hot enough to provide any pain schoolin’. With [...]