One of the best parts of having four children—and there were many best parts—is visiting them as adults. So that’s what I’ll be doing for the new few weeks, first in California and then Hawaii. And no, none of them has yet had the good sense to relocate to our fiftieth state, but after California,…

Who likes change? Raise your hands. I see some of you are waving wildly to get my attention. I see some of you cringing in the corner. I’m afraid I cringe with you. Change is a good thing. Too much of it can send me into a tailspin. So, in the last month I’ve done…

This is grandparents’ week at our cottage. Instead of writing, blogging and Facebooking, I’m indulging in Super Diaper Baby, Uno, and watching my six year old grandson ride the big yellow bus to Children’s School and then sit quietly at Chautauqua’s historical amphitheater as he takes in ballet and orchestra with a child’s enthusiasm—and longer-than-expected…

Have you heard about James and Kimberly Snead? The Sneads are ordinary folks, not rich by anybody’s standards. By their own description in the South Florida Sun Sentinel, they live from paycheck to paycheck and rent their home. When an acquaintance of the Snead’s son was orphaned and had no other place to go, they…

After a busy weekend hosting all my children, spouses and grandchildren, I need to nap more than I need to blog. You’ve all been there, right? So I’ll be back next week. In the meantime. . . ZZZZZZ. . . .

I receive a lot of email. In fact I spend far too much time clearing out my inbox every day. I’m not talking about spam, which is luckily well controlled. Too much of the email I’ve actually signed up for is useless to me: companies trying to sell me things I don’t need or want;…

Sometimes my best ideas occur in the middle of the night. Sometimes answers to my toughest problems occur then, too. And sometimes my dream self just says, “You know, it’s a good thing you didn’t want to be an engineer.” This past week dream self sparkled and tinkled her way into my bedroom and waved her magic “Let’s…

Do you have the answer? It equals exposure to lots of new germs and a very bad cold. I came home from our Thanksgiving trip with a real doozy, so instead of working right now, I’m taking a break to clear my head and feel better. Southern Exposure will resume next week when I can…