In the 1960s, while living and working as a teacher in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), I spent two weeks on holiday in Cape Town. The city was beautiful and modern. Except for apartheid, I might have been in any major center in the world. Nonetheless, the country’s strict adherence t

A Facebook friend in her 60s commented she finally remembered the name of the bird she’d seen in her garden. That she was able to do so made her made her happy. It meant her little gray cells were working. I knew what she meant. At a certain age, we tend to second guess ourselves, e

I read an essay by novelist Claire Messud, recently, which raised questions about the pace of everyday life. (“In Praise of Boredom,” by Claire Messud, Harper’s, August 2015, pgs. 52-54). At times, her thoughts appeared to be hurried and unrelated, beginning with reminiscences a

I wrote, recently, about a dress that appeared to be blue and black to some people but gold and white to others. (Blog 7/17/2015) Initially, the cause for the difference in perception was charged to how light waves hit the retina. But, not so fast. Other researchers suspect the differ

What a piece of work is man?   Seen from outer space, we homo sapiens, dwelling on the third planet from a middling sun, appear to be unique in that we are conscious.   Our imagination is limitless and we use it to alter our environment for the benefit of our species.  Over time,

My blog of June 23, “Frail And Sensitive Little Bullies,” evoked a number of responses, particularly among Facebook readers.  At issue was the concern a female student shared with her instructor about Ovid’s Metamorphoses. She was a rape victim and feared reading the descriptio

One function technology has yet to mimic is the brain’s ability  to see color.  Yes, machines can identify wave lengths associated with color, like 400 nanometers for violet and 590 for red, but the optical illusion the human brain creates to interpret the environment can’t be r

Several years ago, I suffered from a chronic ailment which traditional medicine couldn’t address.  Doctors recognized the problem, but were ignorant about the cause and so, there was no treatment.  Sharing my disappointment with a friend, she suggested I see a naturopath, one she

I was having lunch by myself the other day at the retirement center when a woman sat down across the table and remarked, “You seem like a happy person.  Are you?”  Well, that’s a conversation starter, I thought.  Since I live alone, it’s true, I don’t spend much time argu

I’ve had a new doctor for the past year, a young woman in her thirties.  My first medical exam with her turned up no interesting ailments or complaints, so this year she decided to expand her search by giving me one of those crude, mental fitness tests.  Apparently, I passed becau