‘Birding Is for Everyone’: Blazing a Trail for Birders of Color

(Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on Rewire.) When I first reached out to Jason Ward, the 33-year-old host of the popular YouTube series Birds of North America, I was hoping to speak with him for a lighthearted piece full of tips and … Continue reading

OPINION: Dispatch From My Twin Cities Community

On Monday, May 25, Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd over the course of almost nine minutes in broad daylight on camera while Mr. Floyd and civilians implored him to stop, and while three officers made space for Derek Chauv… Continue reading

At Age 96, An Artistic Passion Revisited

(This article was originally published on Indian Country Today. ) When Annette Bilagody was growing up in the 1930s on the Navajo Nation, her job in her family was to repair broken necklaces. This was her first introduction to beading. She was born and… Continue reading

Early Midlife Crisis Hits Millennials

Do you remember how old you were when you first experienced symptoms of a midlife crisis? Normally it creeps up sometime between the early forties and mid-fifties, triggered by the awareness of one’s mortality. Forget that timetable. Under the cloud of… Continue reading

Death in the Time of the Coronavirus

Entering her apartment, I heard the scariest sound of all: silence. A burly EMT broke it with “I’m sorry.” His slight partner gave the details. Mom was where they found her. There was no blood to suggest a hard fall. The other EMT surmised she had a he… Continue reading

Find Creative Inspiration Online During Quarantine

Maybe you are sorely missing your weekly watercolor class. Maybe the shelter-in-place mandate brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has given you unexpected time or is compelling you to take this opportunity to fold some creativity into your new routi… Continue reading

Managing Anticipatory Grief in a Pandemic

A profound sadness has settled over our planet. Whether it’s the loss of visits with loved ones, the loss of steady work and income, the loss of our usual routines or the full-stop loss of a person in our life whose own life has been extinguished by CO… Continue reading

After the Loss of a Child: We Are Now Extra Ordinary Parents

“A wife who loses a husband is called a widow. A husband who loses a wife is called a widower. A child who loses his parents is called an orphan. There is no word for a parent who loses a child. Lose your child and you’re nothing.” — Tennessee Williams… Continue reading

Living Alone, Physical Distancing and Loneliness

I am a 65-year-old widower, living alone between two communities — during the week in a big city high-rise and on the weekends in a small condo in the rural western North Carolina mountains. My intimate, social and professional networks are broad, soli… Continue reading

Video Chat Services, From A to Zoom

If you never used video conferencing or “video chat” services before the COVID-19 pandemic, you probably are doing so now, or at least thinking about it. After all, video chats are a safe way to interact face-to-face with those you love. I used to hate… Continue reading