Guest Commentary

A grief support group is an incredible support for people. Just having the space to be just as you are, without having to cheer anyone up or put on good face so you won’t upset anyone, is such a relief. People are in such a similar space in their lives and that makes an enormous difference.

Afriend telling me she is reading James Baldwin’s “Giovanni’s Room” gets me thinking about an iconic photo of Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry, sitting on a couch with cigs and drinks before them, when people did those sorts of things.

On the heels of the greatest health care challenge of our lives, Noble Horizons has had to deal with staffing shortages that were unforeseen three years ago. In many ways, this challenge has rivaled those which were seen during our COVID crisis. If we don’t have enough staff, we cannot meet the needs of those who depend on us for their care.

Katie still prefers domination to submission, but I no longer mind her rebelliousness. Her growl is only a gargle, her snap is only excitement. And she is working on loving me. I will never send her back.

Dathalinn O’Dea, who teaches at Marist College in Poughkeepsie led a discussion at the David Hunt Library in Falls Village,  a few weeks ago on James Joyce’s short story “The Dead”.  A dozen or so of us were the benefactors of her erudition.  There is an excellent movie of the story with Angelica Huston leading an all-star Irish cast with the la

The epigraph Peter Burke has chosen to open his new history of worldwide ignorance is ripped from a political debate. It’s Brazil, 1989, and the presidential incumbent is decrying the high cost to the state of his government’s investment in education. His challenger shoots back:

I’ve always been intrigued by animal communicators. There are lots of things we don’t know about animals, and even if they don’t write novels, they have their own ways of transmitting thoughts and feelings.

There’s a bill in the legislature now that contains sections that would be a small but important step to improve public health and to protect a livable climate.  The bill, SBÍ1145, provides money incentives to businesses that sell battery or electric-powered small off-road equipment like lawn mowers and leaf blowers.