ANNA MARIA ISLAND, Florida – As a retired woman of a certain age, there’s not a whole lot that can get me up and out before 9 a.m. Keyword being “out.” An urgent veterinary appointment for our beloved Havanese, nature’s call and, of course, pickleball with my peeps. (Just not this year. I shall return.) On Tuesday morning, though, we had good reason to rise and shine early: strict orders from “Queen E,” our winter maven of shelling and shaming. Most folks around the pool here call her Eileen. “The early bird gets the sand dollars, girls, so haul your lazy butts over here to the beach by 8!” she said…
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Mimes, Minions and mothers
Another Saturday, another opportunity to either look on the bright side or retreat into my cozy hole of cynicism. Hard to say which one to choose on this rainy February day on the (usually) sunny gulf coast of Florida. Not that I’m complaining. We are, after all, not in Michigan. “I wish all of this sand was snow,” said nobody, ever. Anyway, the other night we watched “The Holdovers” movie streaming on Peacock. It stars Paul Giamatti playing a cantankerous instructor at a New England prep school who must remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit a handful of ragtag students with nowhere to go. He soon forms an…
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Hopeful hearts
The average price for a gallon of gas when the Detroit Lions last appeared in an NFC title game was $1.19. Just under $3 a gallon in Michigan, our boys in Honolulu Blue could have used some premium high octane against San Francisco before they ran out of steam after blowing a 17-point lead at the half last Sunday. The Lions came in as underdogs, but they sure didn’t play like it in the first half. Stagnant and stunned, the 49ers were behind 24-7 after two quarters. But like that old saying about the month of March, Detroit came in like lions and went out like lambs. From roaring beasts to gentle giants.…
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Rizz is the word
I love words. Big ones, little ones, made-up ones, silly ones. And I do love a clever portmanteau (spork!) and forever strive to omit needless words, thanks to the advice of my beloved style guys, Strunk and White. Words have been my meal ticket for as long as I can remember. So, when the Oxford English Dictionary names its word of the year for 2023, I pay attention. This year, however, I had no idea what the chosen word meant. In fact, I felt a little left out. Or, more to the point, simply out of it. Gen Z, I ain’t, but really, I’m not thaaat old, am I? Am I? OK, a generation or…
