“I always count my blessings more than I count my money. I don’t work for money, never did.”
—Dolly Parton

We’ve lost a legend, a country music icon, a national treasure. My words today, but words frequently used by many others to describe Dolly Parton after her recent death.

Had aliens in a spaceship landed in Nashville and walked in on one of her performances at the Grand Ole Opry, what would they have thought? […]

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lately, I’ve written a few posts about friendship and loneliness. Perhaps it resonates with us more as we age and have time to reflect on our lives. So, I decided to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. Two cases in point.

My wife and I recently returned from a Canadian Rockies trip with three other couples. One couple we’ve […]

“It’s good to remember that in crises, natural crises, human beings forget for a while their ignorances, their biases, their prejudices. For a little while, neighbors help neighbors and strangers help strangers.”
—Maya Angelou, American poet and civil rights activist

Imagine this: A fella drives into his neighborhood, hits his garage door remote, makes his way into his garage, hits the remote again, and goes into the house through an interior doorway. He orders dinner via a food-delivery app, opens his computer […]

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
—Thomas Edison

Perhaps you, as am I, are still troubled by the statistics I cited in my June 23rd blog regarding U.S. citizens’ views of our country. Clearly, we live in a nation where a significant percentage of people don’t appreciate the blessing it is to be an American. That’s especially true for our young adults.

If there are two words that best characterize the U.S., […]