{Update from Sam} For years Debbie has been badgering me about looking into a place in a warmer climate where we might spend some of our dotage. This is a reasonable response to, and outgrowth of, spending the first five winters in Maine following our gap year. As the winters grew longer, the ice slicker, […]
{Update from Sam} I recently went on a hunting trip. I cannot begin to describe how much I enjoyed it. I am embarrassed to say that it was the most exciting week of my life since turning sixteen and losing my virginity – an experience that did not last a week, I can assure you […]
{Update from Andy Franklin} Today’s post is written by Debbie’s cousin Andy Franklin, a longtime and loyal reader of this blog. By Andy Franklin During the Presidential primary season we heard talk about a Green New Deal that was generally associated with the “extreme left” of the Democratic party. The Green New Deal is a […]
{Update from Sam} If you are wondering where Debbie has been over the past few months while I’ve been pontificating here on the blog (don’t worry; I will continue to do so in the future), she has not crawled under a rock. In fact, she has been working hard on her podcast, The Gap Year […]
My new podcast, Gap Year For Grown-Ups, is ready for prime-time! I invite you to listen and to subscribe via iTunes (or your favorite podcast app). It’s a podcast for those who believe you can take a timeout to reinvent your life, to explore, to find meaning and purpose – and yes, happiness! – especially […]
Sam and I have a new expression: forest bathing. We use it daily as a signal for calm and clarity. “Where are you going?” I’ll ask as he steps out the door. “To take a forest bath,” Sam replies. We learned the term from our daughter Eliza but it’s Japanese, a translation of shinrin-yoku. Shinrin […]
2018 has been a busy year, marked by the publication of Sam’s book and his unofficial speaking tour. For my part, I created, produced and directed a women’s storytelling event at the Stonington Opera House that has turned out to be a big hit. It’s called Island Women Speak and features seven or eight local […]
Sam and I fly to France tonight to make a second pilgrimage back to the boarding school I went to half a century ago. But it’s more than a trip down memory lane. This time, I am aiming to make sense of the extraordinary history of the French village of Le Chambon-Sur-Lignon, especially as it […]
{Update from Sam} In case you think that I am only concerned with old age pensioners, death, and dying, here’s a thought on a different subject. I can’t look at, drive over, or walk on the Brooklyn Bridge without remembering that it is built with granite from Carver’s Harbor on Vinalhaven, a small island community […]
* Add your review to Sam’s Amazon book page! – Debbie * Sometimes you have to go for it, as my youngest grandchild is doing with his first birthday cake. His oldest sister verbalized her baby brother’s thoughts as he reached for the remaining cake: “Hmm… this looks promising.” Today is pub date for my book, […]
