Melanie Reid, the London Times columnist paralyzed in an accident two years ago, provides the best living account of adjustment to disability – and can easily make me relive my own experience. Considering our extraordinarily different backgrounds, the similarities can astonish me. It is party season in Britain too, Christmas rolling towards New Year's, with a nod to Hanukkah here and there. And Reid quite accurately portrays the disabled person's fears. The horror of being invited to Christmas Read more [...]

It began, if it began anywhere, at Tosca. Do I love it? Yes, I suppose. Problem is I know it, more or less by heart, which became apparent as the San Francisco Opera unfolded its version Friday night. Once you know the plot, there are no dramatic surprises. Once you know the score, the same. Lovely, altogether. But stultifyingly familiar, the strong message being time for something else. The other message, one that is oddly mine, having to do with something along the lines of disloyalty, should I Read more [...]

How can I have attained 65 years upon this earthly coil, logged thousands of hours at live performances, and still have not witnessed Wagner? That this question was even on my mind says it all. The evening was going to be a chore. Unless I was pleasantly surprised. The good news being that at this age I still give things the college try. And what a try, a rather trying try, it was. Truly on a Wagnerian scale, when one considers that this involved a hotel room. After all, even with a 7 PM curtain, Read more [...]

The day dawns bright and fresh, ever so slightly autumnal. Bouncing my wheelchair the wrong way, facing the few oncoming cars on the wide expanse of Live Oak Avenue, I feel it. The sun at a different incline, things shifting. The subtle way of changing seasons in this part of California. Rain has made all the difference. A bluing of the skies, rinsing of the streets. The pavement has turned pleasantly black. A good thing, rain. Perhaps there will be more this year. Something to look forward to, definitely Read more [...]

Steve waves to me across the empty queuing spaces just outside Security, and I'm thinking, gosh, it's a small world. It's a small plane too, making Steve's appearance particularly welcome. I see him regularly, know him slightly, thus Peet's Coffee, Menlo Park. Steve is a regular there. Irregular seeing him here, though. Turns out he has attended a conference in Phoenix. I have attended to my sister and family matters. And now we are heading home. When United Airlines makes the general call for cripples, Read more [...]

Why have I come to Tempe, the university quarter of Phoenix, Arizona? The question resounds, particularly on my first night, dealing and coping. What other words for undressing and getting into bed on my own these days? It has come to this. Things are getting harder. It has come to this. I am getting older. It has come to this. I resent it all, and yet the very process of dealing with a foreign environment...well, it keeps me going. Keeps me resilient. Keeps me believing that I can handle Read more [...]