Photo by Jayson Hinrichsen
“Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination.”
— Mark Twain (pen name for Samuel Langhorne Clemens) (1835 – 1910)
American writer & humorist
Hah! Rather redefines giddiness!
Find lots of happiness insights in the “Happiness: and Other Life Seasonings” guidebook.
Photo by Polina Kuzovkova
“Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
American social activist & stateswoman
US First Lady: 1933-45; Ambassador to UN
Throughout the year, but especially at Christmas, I express my deepest gratitude for my wealth of friends, all of whose footprints are forever in my heart.
Cathy & Mom at the Lucky Lobster Company, Dunedin, Florida
Thanks, Mom, for being the wonderful person you are!
With Mom & Sir Ronald at Mystic Fish, Palm Harbor, Florida
Sir Ronald and I have been enjoying our visit with Mom. At 95 years young, we are blessed to see her thriving in life. At the end of the month, she is retiring from her 15-year volunteer gig running a card shop at her apartment complex.
She is ready to slow down…. Swimming in the pool 2-3 times a week, her women’s club activities, fun chorus schedule, various card groups, lots of dining companions, and a huge array of community events keep her very busy.
Hot Buttered Lobster Roll (sans roll) at Lucky Lobster Company
She has always been my greatest cheerleader. We loved sharing time with her again and treating her to some of her favorite restaurants.
Lobster Roll at Cafe Alfresco, Dunedin, FL
Bouillabaisse – Mystic Fish, Palm Harbor, FL
Fried Clams appetizer at Lucky Lobster, Dunedin, FL
Oh, yes… enjoyed lobster rolls,
bouillabaisse,
fried clams,
Root Beer Float – Cafe Alfresco, Dunedin, FL
a root beer float,
Grouper Bites appetizer – Cafe Alfresco, Dunedin, FL
grouper bites,
Pretzel-Encrusted Grouper – Mystic Fish, Palm Harbor, FL
pretzel-encrusted grouper,
Grouper Tacos, Lucky Lobster Co., Dunedin, FL
grouper tacos,
Key Lime Pie
key lime pie, and more!
Lamb Chops at Bascom’s Steak House, St. Petersburg, FL
(Mom taught me to cook and enjoy great food!
Key Lime Pie at Bascom’s
When in Florida, we especially enjoy grouper & key lime pie… in any order.) We love you to the moon and back, Mom.
“A smile can open a heart faster than a key can open a door.”
AND it’s beautifully contagious. Pass it on.
“A person who tells you that you are not good enough knows that you are better than they are.”
— Cathy Burnham Martin
Author, voiceover artist, and dedicated foodie
Life comes with numerous challenges, and they seem to intensify during the holiday season. We can easily find ourselves dealing with discouragement, loss, isolation, negative people, divisiveness, disappointment, heartbreak, and a whole array of other storms. Tools to dissipate negativity become vital. One key is getting around and listening to positive people and avoiding the negative rants. Believe! You can do this.
“The most perfect technique is that which is not noticed at all.”
–Pablo Casals (1876-1973)
Spanish-born cellist, conductor, and composer
“No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.”
— Hal Borland (1900 – 1978)
American writer & journalist
The holiday season can be glorious, but for many, it comes with great sorrow and challenges. My wish for you is great hope now and always.
“Remember this, that very little is needed to make a happy life.”
— Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180 AD)
Roman Emperor & Stoic philosopher
Thanks to everyone… friends and family… who make my life a very happy one!
We had a smaller Thanksgiving gathering than usual, with just 13 guests.
But we are sooo grateful for our friends, both near and far. Ohana, as my sister from Hawaii says, are the friends who become family.
We are very blessed.
Our newlywed friends (Gerb & Angie Weisgerber) brought a lovely tray of raw veggies. I found myself staring at the clever dip bowl she had fashioned from a sweet pepper. And she added eyes. I immediately saw the red Muppet, but I couldn’t think of Elmo’s name at the time.
THEN…. I looked at it later and saw the way a carrot had been cut and placed just below the eyes. I said, “You know, that makes it look like a bird!” Well, duh. She had artfully arranged all her veggies in such a way that she’d fashioned a turkey. I got to the party, but I surely arrived late… but laughing!!!
“There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends that become family.”
— Unknown
Happiest Thanksgiving wishes and blessings to you from our home and hearts to yours.
“Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions.”
— Diogenes Laertius (3rd century AD)
Greek author of “Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers”
“Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood.”
— Freeman Teague Jr.
Photo by Todd Quackenbush
“Character is like a tree and reputation a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
— Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
American statesman; 16th President: 1861-65; assassinated following Civil War
Photo by Casey Horner
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
— Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955)
German-born theoretical physicist; developed the Theory of Relativity
“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.”
–Aristotle (384 – 322 BC)
Greek philosopher
Congratulations to Gerb & Angie! Dear friends, David Weisgerber and Angela Vidibor are getting married today in Las Vegas, Nevada. We love you both to the moon and back!
Photo by Joshua Earle
“True hope dwells on the possible, even when life seems to be a plot written by someone who wants to see how much adversity we can overcome.”
— Walter Inglis Anderson (1903 – 1976)
American painter & writer
Photo by Dimitris Vetskes
“When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.”
— Thomas Sowell (1930 – )
American economist, social theorist, and political philosopher
Photo by Judi Bell
“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.”
— Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917 – 2008)
English science fiction writer
“The only people I owe my loyalty to are those who never made me question theirs.”
— Anonymous
Celebrate National Baklava (or Paklava) Day with an awesome, melt-in-your-mouth piece of this delectable pastry.
Don’t wait for an Armenian or Greek festival. Make some at home for the holidays or stop by a favorite pastry shop.
Layers of delicate phyllo pastry, cinnamon-spiced chopped nuts, a clove-infused syrup or honey… Yummmmm!
Oh, my! Last week we had our first frost… higher in the NC mountains, they got snow. I guess Mother Nature thinks it’s Spring now. The Iris is blooming. LOL
Photo by JSB Co.
“Love is an attempt to change a piece of a dream world into reality.”
— Theodor Reik (1888 – 1969)
Austrian psychoanalyst
Photo by Alex Shuper
“Storms make trees take deeper roots.”
– Sir Claude McDonald (1852 – 1915)
British soldier & diplomat
Photo by Michelle Baker
“I’m a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”
— Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826)
American Founding Father & primary author of the Declaration of Independence;
2nd US Vice President & 3rd US President
Photo by Luis Covarrubias
Celebrate National French Dip Day by enjoying the classic sandwich at home or at a favorite restaurant. Simply warmed roast beef or pork on a French roll or crusty baguette-style bread… with or without provolone or Swiss cheese and a condiment such as horseradish sauce or spicy mustard. Caramelized onions are another great addition, but the essential is serving the sandwich up with a side of warm au jus dipping broth. Yum.
#NationalFrenchDipDay
On this day in 1989, I was blessed to be in West Berlin to cover the opening of the Berlin Wall for our ABC affiliate in NH. On November 9th, we’d seen the impossible on television… people dancing atop the Berlin Wall.
The next day, I was there.
The island oasis that was West Berlin could openly welcome those from the East for the first time since it was constructed in 1961.
Our image is often the graffiti-covered Wall. However, that only reflects the West Berlin side of one wall.
In actuality, a double wall system ran for 96 miles, with 302 watch towers, 20 troop bunkers, and endless trip wires… surrounding West Berlin… to keep citizens from escaping from East Berlin and East Germany into freedom in West Berlin.
Varying widths of “No Man’s Land” existed between the double wall system, constructed to stop the mass exodus of people fleeing to the West.
(Excuse me, according to the East German rhetoric at the time, it was to protect its citizens from West German Fascism and American Imperialism.) 3 million East Germans had fled as the Walls were constructed.
As Socialism crumbled into Communism, the people suffered and were trapped. No… life was not better. Many people tried to escape over the wall to enter West Berlin.
The numbers are staggering… nearly 200 shot and killed, more than 100 more wounded, and 3,200 caught and imprisoned.
5,000 made it to freedom, but the numerous crosses and memorial tributes on the West side of the Wall tell the story.
On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan stood before the Brandenburg Gate and uttered the now-famous words, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
Two years later, we stood at the Berlin Wall and chipped our mementos.
But we also watched those from the East marveling at sights they had never before seen… sights as simple as a basic fruit juice box.
They stood in line for the chance to get to freedom in the West.
So, standing in line for 3 hours to step inside the marvels of Woolworth’s, a Western store, with shelves brimming with goods.
A neo-Nazi demonstration broke out on the walking street where we were interviewing people. Jim Linsky, my videographer, was attacked, and his camera was smashed.
These demonstrators did not want freedom for those coming from the East. They wanted East and West Germany to be reunited with Socialism and Communism for all.
Communism lost that day, and the world won.
East to West smiles flourished as people met and welcomed each other, and families were reunited. As we joined those welcoming people into a world of freedom, it was far more than humbling.
They hugged and thanked us, just for being Americans, for making freedom possible. I wept, remembering all the people who had worked, suffered, and sacrificed for that freedom.
Not knowing at the time how long the Wall might remain open, people rushed through it in droves.
And yet, the Eastern guards, once charged with stopping such travel by any means necessary, now merely smiled. Yeah, they were going to be free, too.
Military troops from the US and our Allies provided food to the newcomers, who arrived with only the clothes on their backs. West Berliners housed them.
Freedom was being born, and we were blessed to be there to watch it happen.
These people would never again be sucked into the seemingly benevolent promises of Socialism, as they had lived through its inevitable transition into total government control and Communism.
Thank you to everyone, yesterday, today, and tomorrow… who keep the torches of freedom burning.
The Berlin Wall… It fell for freedom.
“He who has health, has hope. And he who has hope, has everything.”
— Arabian proverb
And this little gem is among the Notable Quotables in 2025’s “Hope: and Other Life Seasonings,” another pocket guide to help make good living as easy as 1-2-3.
“You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness.”
— Jonathan Safran Foer (1977 – )
American novelist
This is one of the “Notable Quotables” in my positive, little go-to guidebook entitled “Happiness: and Other Life Seasonings.” Now available in paperback and digital formats, “Happiness” joins other titles in the series, including “Hope,” “Forgiveness,” “Perspectives,” and “Humor.”
Photo by Carter Baran
Celebrate National Hug a Bear Day by hugging your favorite teddy bear. (No black, brown, grizzlies, or polar bears.)
Photo by Harli Marten
“A friend is someone who accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”
— William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)
English playwright & poet
Photo by Ales Krivec
“Freedom is not America’s gift to the world; it is Almighty God’s gift to every man and woman in this world.”
— Ronald Reagan (1911 – 2004)
American actor & California Governor
40th President of the United States (1981 – 89)
Photo by Austin Kehmeier
“Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.”
— Oprah Winfrey (1954 – )
American TV host & producer, actress & author
After visiting Hobbiton in New Zealand along with several sites where “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings” trilogies were filmed…
Sir Ronald chose an obvious theme for this year’s Halloween costumes.
He proved to be a worthy wizard, including Gandalf’s magical staff.
I portrayed the elf Queen Arwen… obviously aging fast as I approached 2900 years old.
Great fun with friends, handing out treats to little goblins and princesses at the annual Tryon Walk.
A boooootiful time was enjoyed by all.
So, what is your best costume ever? Sir Ronald and I have certainly worn a few dillies over the years… from Minnie & Mickey Mouse…
to the Scarecrow & Wicked Witch of the West.
From a lion & lion tamer…
to Frankenstein’s monster & bride.
And even Davy Jones and Captain Jack Sparrow.
Sooooo…. What will it be this year? We already attended one party last week as goofy Hawaiian tourists. But for tonight’s attire, you’ll have to stay tuned.
Love it or hate it, this is National Candy Corn Day. George Renninger is credited with inventing candy corn while employed at the Wunderlee Candy Company in Philadelphia in the 1880s. The iconic yellow, orange,
and white treats were popularized and mass-produced starting in 1898 by the Goelitz Confectionery Company, which later became known as the Jelly Belly Candy Company, which still uses the same original recipe and proudly claims the longest history of continuously producing candy corn. (My teeth hurt.)
Photo by Jill Wellington
“Freedom is the oxygen of the soul.”
— Moshe Dayan (1915 – 1981)
Commander & former Minister of Defense of Israel
“Man is what he eats.”
— Ludwig Feuerbach (1804 – 1872)
German philosopher & anthropologist
This means that I am a wild collage of lobster, pizza, fresh berries, and salty potato chips, washed down with icy cold pinot grigio and finished with lemon sorbet and dark chocolate for dessert.
Image by Lothar Dieterich
“One man with courage makes a majority.”
— Andrew Jackson (1767 – 1845)
US Army General &
7th President of the United States
“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy.”
— Norman Vincent Peal (1898-1993)
American pastor, author of “The Power of Positive Thinking” in 1952
Photo by Zyanya Citlalli
“From listening comes wisdom and from speaking, repentance.”
— Proverb