Corona’s surprising effect on an evening at the theater My favorite small theater has reopened after months of lockdown and we are attending a two-woman show called Primacomedy. I return here with mixed feelings. Would it be full? How will they deal with the social distancing inside the theater? I…

Read by the author Beverly hadn’t seen her elderly neighbor, Regina, for several weeks. Not since she had moved into a rest home. At 92, that wasn’t a surprising turn of events. She is still very spry and a pleasant companion, despite her years. But she was now experiencing some…

Read by the author The distant agony of past wars is suddenly revived by the attack on Ukraine When my daughter was investigating colleges three years ago, we toured five universities in as many locations across Germany. Each city we visited is imbued with memories of WWII, the Cold War…

Read by the author My muesli stuck in my throat listening to a recent National Public Radio (NPR) broadcast on a new recycling initiative in California. Recycling is new? Seriously? The woman interviewed was clearly a recycling newbie, as she left her organic waste in the kitchen and went off…

Read by the author Somebody important had died. Huge crowds of people were expected for a “public viewing,” the open display of a deceased person. But why were people so excited and upbeat about a death? What’s more, this so-called public viewing was being held not just in one place…

22 January 2022 As if remembering dozens of passwords wasn’t difficult enough, bikes and suitcases sport combination locks. Add these to your impossibly long list of numbers to keep track of. Read by the author Brenda Arnold Suitcases I long ago stopped locking my suitcases when going to the U.S. since…

Read by the author To move to Munich, I had to travel almost 7,000 km. Upon arrival, I was immediately confronted with learning a new language and navigating a strange land. But moving just 10 kilometers out of the city triggered culture shock in my husband. Why? We had to…

Read by the author Brenda Arnold 8 January 2022 To improve your communication, take a cue from your pet. According to the organizational psychologist Adam Grant, one-third of women reported that their pets were better listeners than their partners. This is a jarring statistic — shocking, even. To put it…

Audio version read by the author The tightening grip of the Omicron variant has inspired me to make a radical move. Now that this virus has been roller-coastering through our lives for a good two years, it’s time to get off. I vote we sleep through 2022. My initial illusions about the duration of this pandemic were recorded for posterity in an unexpected fashion: with a handwritten, two-line entry in my Moosewood Restaurant cookbook. It’s an old habit I copied from my mother: to note down the date on a recipe…