by Barry Phegan | Oct 15, 2021 | Aging, Social comment
My mother once recounted a story from my childhood. Just three or four years old, I had come across a dead bird, probably a sparrow, in our front yard. After examining it with earnest concern, I announced, “It’s lost all its interest.” She found that amusingly...
by Barry Phegan | Oct 3, 2021 | Aging, Social comment
Swimming Swimming in the mornings is a favorite ‘hands busy, mind free’ time. As my body swims my brain drifts, open to what floats in. Today, dying showed up. I was playing a mental game, stepping into the shoes of someone way outside my understanding (Covid...
by Barry Phegan | Sep 15, 2021 | Aging, Social comment
Some professional writers advise beginners to write about things they know. As a beginning writer, that advice got me thinking. Here’s what I know about climate change, human nature, and my job as a senior. Clocks Go Forward Fact. There is no winding back the...
by Barry Phegan | Aug 5, 2021 | Social comment
Seeking Understanding in 2021 With so much at stake in our world today, I ask myself, why do we focus on our differences, rather than the vast terrain of commonalities? We know it’s tribalism, so why are we stuck in it? Tribal Animals We are each members of our...
by Barry Phegan | Jul 12, 2021 | Social comment
No one gets out of bed in the morning to act crazy. Yet, in our wildly polarized times, we may feel that “those others” have lost it. They haven’t, and they think we have. How can we make sense of this? How can we see beyond tribalism? In April this year, I...
by Barry Phegan | Jun 28, 2021 | Aging, Social comment
After a truly wonderful recent visit to Wenatchee, Washington, my daughter drove me to the airport. Her children were along for the ride, and she spoke with her son about scheduling a tune-up for his bicycle. I mentioned that when I was a kid, taking a bike to...
