Am I really growing more fragile by the day? It certainly feels that way. The reasons for this are not entirely clear, but the fact is…I am getting older. The next big new miraculous milestone in my life is no longer 70. It is 80. This feat of quadriplegic longevity defies every expectation. And it also looms, partly threat, partly sentence. And wholly unimaginable. Or is it? I guess that is the thing, this matter of aging, declining, advancing incapacitation…all this is noticeable day by day. The Read more [...]

As Jane rolls off to church, I roll out the door on this, my regular Sunday morning shopping expedition. And there is something in the air. Something watery, vis-à-vis rain, or perhaps drizzle. The effect is unnerving. I haven’t felt real rain on my face for two months in this, the supposedly rainy season in San Francisco. And my reaction? First, I try not to get too buoyant, hoping that this represents the first of many other droplets. The forecast is bleak. Drought. With a chance of more drought. Read more [...]

My wheelchair is rolling me up Center Street, elevator portal to the downtown Berkeley BART station on this, a late Friday afternoon. And it is not summertime and the livin’ isn’t easy. It is March, often described poetically as a blustery month. And for once the lyrical is scientifically accurate. The winds are blowing. It is cold.  I have had lunch with my cousin Gregg, a quick roll through Trader Joe’s. And now I am homeward bound. The unease I have felt ever since emerging from Read more [...]

I admit to being something of a news junkie. For example, when I waltz into the bathroom to take a quick pee, I also take a quick listen to NPR. Just in case something new and horrible is unfurling in Ukraine. And generally something is. Yet “truth is the first casualty of war” being something of a cliché, what is really happening is impossible to know. Because, for one thing, it is impossible to report. No report can come in fast enough. As for perspective, that arrives like a torrent. Everyone Read more [...]

Mornings for me are all about exercise, getting stretched, and getting on with the general physical medicine day. Which means any day. It is possible, however, to incorporate other experiences. Vis-à-vis podcasts. And even, this morning a Zoom meeting with the Lincoln Project. Which you will recall, represents a coalition of never-Trump Republicans and some Democrats. One of which is probably me. We heard from a guy who is a political science professor at the University of Virginia. And we heard Read more [...]

I don’t know why I set out for parts unknown on a regular basis, of a weekday. I tell myself that I need to get out. Out of the house. Out of my own mind, as it were. And, yes, that phrase with its multiple meanings is entirely appropriate on all levels. More on this later. For now, I am paying a highly productive visit to Messrs. Sam & Company. And on this drought-stricken day in February, I am happy, not unequivocally, to note that every table in front of his establishment is occupied. Read more [...]