Pandora's Other Box

There are moments in life when a certain –sometimes direct, other times subtle- realization comes to your mind T he understanding that a good deal of your allotted time on this Earth has already been utilized, is present in everyday activities. In fact, it is fully accepted. This is ever present in many ways, in many expressions. There is no question that father (mother?) time does pass on and takes no prisoners… But, despite this last factoid, the truth is that today’s medicine, care, diet knowledge and general exercise activities do have a great deal to do in extending one’s enjoyable time on this planet. So, I have lost weight this year, done some exercise, limited severely the intake of red meat (Oh Lord… my Argentinian friends would expel me from their ranks for that one!!) have NOT eliminated my intake of red wine ( well… I follow those researchers who tell me that red wine is good for whatever ails me… and it is!!) , increased my dancing time ( great cardio exercise, you...

(This is a piece -with very minor changes- which first appeared on this blog 4 years ago. Not much has changed, or will change)  In this great country of ours, sometimes we overlook those rights and freedoms we so adamantly exercise… forgetting these came by at a price, a very steep one for many. Those of us who have come to this grand country looking for a place to live and to have a life ( not always the same, you know!! ) actually tend to appreciate those liberties found here, sometimes even more than those men and women who have been born and raised within them. I am not an advocate of war; have seen up close the damages it causes. Not only to the places where they are waged but also, and foremost, to the people involved in them. In several instances, a service death might have been a more charitable consequence than having lived and survived the horrors many service men and women have experienced. There are many lifetime scars that are not visible to the naked eye. ...