Dear Nicholas, This past Tuesday, I not only thought it was Wednesday, I bullishly insisted it was. This morning I poured adhesive remover on my head thinking it was dry shampoo. And I recently tried to brush my teeth with hand lotion. I thought I had invented the word “pandementing” but then did a search […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, A week after my second shot, with greater freedom close, I’m at the pit of my pandemic year. It’s like what prisoners call gate fever, the barrage of feelings before expected release, emotions shooting in surprising directions. My case is no doubt quite different from an actual prisoner’s, because I’ve been living comfortably […] Read More

Nicholas–I had my second shot (and hope you’ve had yours) and I now have new respect for sufferers of full-blown Covid-19. A few hours of the side effects of the vaccine–and that’s all it was, about 18 hours–were a shock. I’ve read that the stronger one’s immune system, the worse side effects may be. Apparently, […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, The biography of a mystic I’ve been working on for years has led me in a curious direction, attempting to do my own communicating with the spirit world. The only big surprise so far came during a business phone call. You could say I received a message, though not the way I had […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, It wasn’t the virus that took Bob and me to the hospital. It was, however, the virus-sponsored ten months hiding out at home that added voltage to the shock. Escaping covid “lockdown” had for us meant a run to the grocery store and very little else. That changed one night last week. The […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, As my brothers and I were packing up our mother’s house, I took the high school picture of me off the wall and saw I was at that moment wearing the same hairdo and a black turtleneck just like in the picture– at 17 and again at 71. It was a strange moment […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, I regularly have trouble getting my point across to people on the first try. This results in my having to write far too many drafts of my books. And in conversation, people will seize on some minor detail of what I’m saying as important and miss the point altogether. Or there’s some other […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, With all plans scrambled by Covid,  I forgot to take a vacation this year and instead have worked, steadily, barely pausing to look up, from my laptop on my sofa. On the late afternoon of December 10, I ran out of gas and came to a halt. I’m still halted, seven business days […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, The three-and-a-half minute video below has already been heard/watched 993  million times. A while back I had played it a few times myself. By chance (or algorithm) I ran across it again yesterday while checking out the new Saturday Night Live skits on Youtube. What a mood-booster to view again! I’m so pleased […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, I didn’t expect this Thanksgiving to be exceptional except for the smallness of the crowd (just Bob and me). But the traditional meal we threw together produced in me some surprise gratitude. Not just a review of the list of loved ones, an overview of everything good, but a sharp upwelling of feeling. […] Read More