Yesterday the temperature outside broke forty degrees.

For months now I have walked my neighborhood with my chin tucked firmly into the collar of my jacket, the outermost layer of a fortress of clothes meant to protect me from the wind and cold. But yesterday I stuck my neck out of my cocoon. Like a timid turtle, I sniffed the air. I squinted into the morning light. And I saw puddles.

Imagine that. Puddles. The remnants of endless piles of sleet and snow, finally wrestled into submission by the sun. 

I stared into the watery reflection, cool and still. And then I leapt up and stomped so hard water flew out from beneath my feet in every direction. 

Imagine that. 

“Every child's first lesson in reflection, refraction, surface tension, colloidal solutions, fluid dynamics, and what not, begins with a pool of water on the road." ― Vineet Raj Kapoor

I've never been much of a jewelry fan.

I wear an old Timex of my mother's whose leather band has now softened with age. My wedding ring has three plain bands; one for love, one for family, and one for friendship. And I have one pair of earrings, each with a singular pearl surrounded by a small circle of diamonds.

My parents gave me those earrings many years ago now. It was such an extravagant gesture I still get teary recalling the moment.

Diamonds symbolize love so expansive, there are no words.....

"It's not that diamonds are a girl's best friend, but it's your best friends who are your diamonds. It's your best friends who are supremely resilient, made under pressure, and of astonishing value." – Gina Barreca

When I read the quote below, I was struck not so much by the message as by the author.

The "Wichita Lineman" has certainly had his fair share of troubles. Married four times, rumors of Campbell's legendary temper and wandering eye were routinely fodder for gossip. For much of his life, he struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. And because of his fame, his flaws were frequently on public display. Given his checkered past, talk of a clear conscience seems a bit out of character for the "Rhinestone Cowboy."

Perhaps the quote was an aspirational musing of Campbell's. Perhaps not. Either way, it struck a nerve.

In just a few days, the 2021 observance of Black History Month will come to a close. While our nation's racial tensions and disparities have existed for centuries, this intensified effort to both celebrate diversity while raising awareness act as reminders of the work that needs to be accomplished every day, of every week, of every month of the year.

Pillow talk reimagined....

"There's no pillow as soft as a clear conscience." – Glen Campbell

Yesterday I read that Calvin and Tina Tyler had pledged 20 million dollars to Morgan State College, the most generous private donation ever made to an historically Black school.

While their generosity is inspiring, perhaps the most surprising detail is that Morgan State does not count Calvin Tyler among its graduates. Ironically, he had been forced to drop out of MSC forty years earlier, no longer able to afford the price of tuition.

Now countless others will never know this circumstance, recipients of the need-based scholarships that carry his name. Paying it forward never looked so good......

"I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back." – Maya Angelou

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to travel to Shanghai as a visiting scholar. I had dreamt of going to China for many years and seeing all of the sites I had heard about for so long. The Great Wall. The Forbidden City. The Terracotta Warriors. The Yangtze River. Tiananmen Square. The Bund. A magical concoction I couldn't wait to experience.

Who knew it would be the roly-poly pandas who would steal my heart?

I watched them for hours; lounging, napping, chewing endless stalks of bamboo. Before our stop in Chengdu it had been rush, rush, rush. But the pandas and I needed time. Just like the bamboo......

"The seed of a bamboo tree is planted, fertilized, and watered. Nothing happens for the first year. There is no sign of growth. The same thing happens the second year. And then the third year. The tree is carefully watered and fertilized each year but nothing shows. No growth. No anything.

After eight years of fertilizing and watering, with nothing to show for it, the bamboo tree suddenly sprouts and grows thirty feet in three months!" – Zig Ziglar

If the wave of the future is bitcoin, then I missed the wave.

There are plenty of cutting-edge articles about cryptocurrencies, chock-full of explanations of deregulation, blockchain, market capitalization, and the removal of banking's grip on money supplies.

Is your heading spinning yet? Mine too.

My only "bitcoin-esque" experience was mistakenly trying to pay a toll on the New York State Thruway with a Chuck E. Cheese token. The toll booth collector looked blankly at my exhausted and bleary-eyed expression and drolly pointed out the error of my ways.

Arcade coinage? Yes. Toll booth passage. Um.......... no.

"Bitcoin is like anything else: it's worth what people are willing to pay for it." – Stanley Druckenmiller

My next door neighbor is a big strapping man with broad shoulders and a mop of hair that falls easily across his forehead. His daily uniform consists of worn blue jeans and old sweatshirts. Half the time he looks like he just rolled out of bed.

He rambles down the steps of his building at least twice a day to take his dog out for a walk. She is as delicate as he is beefy, a wisp of a dog that sopping wet might weigh a couple of pounds. They are an odd couple; this hulking thirty-something man with the kind of dog I usually see carried in a purse.

One day, when we were both crossing the parking lot together, I asked him what his dog's name was. He looked lovingly at her and said "Bea Arthur, after the actress."

Dog people. Gotta love them.

“Everyone thinks they have the best dog. And none of them are wrong.” – W.R. Purche

For my Dad's 80th birthday I made 80 cupcakes. The display covered the entire top of my parents' small kitchen table, hiding the worn red Formica underneath. Even my Dad was a bit taken aback when he saw it.

Using a piping tube filled with icing, I had marked each cupcake with a different year of his life, starting with 1917. Notable years received additional decoration. I drew two interlocking rings on the year he married my Mom, a plus sign (+) on the years his children were born, a money symbol ($) on the year he retired. I thought I had all my bases covered.

Since it was his birthday, it only seemed right he should be the first one to choose. Looking across the landscape of sugar, I told him to pick his favorite year. Without the slightest hesitation, he plucked one devoid of a special mark. 

Both confused and surprised, I asked him why he had chosen such a random year. "It wasn't random," he replied. "That was the year I enlisted."

Once a soldier, always a soldier. 

"Cupcakes are muffins that believe in miracles." – Anonymous

Tucked into 2,700 acres of Hohenwald, Tennessee is The Elephant Sanctuary, a place of rescue and refuge for both Asian and African elephants.

Eleven elephants, all female, currently make the Sanctuary their home. Described as providing something akin to "assisted living," the staff offer care and companionship to the herd as they return to a life free of hunters and circus performances.

If you have ever been fortunate enough to spend time amongst these glorious animals, their emotional attachments to one another are evident. Behind those soft dark eyes beat gentle hearts........

"We admire elephants in part because they demonstrate what we consider the finest human traits: empathy, self-awareness, and social intelligence." – Graydon Carter

A native Angeleno, Patrisse Cullors is perhaps best known as the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Outraged by the treatment of her incarcerated brother, Ms. Cullors has fought for criminal justice reform for quite some time. Multi-talented and multi-faceted, Ms. Cullers has found her voice as an organizer, author, speaker, actress, and artist.

Her website describes her approach to art as "wielding discomfort as a medium." If we can change what we see, then Ms. Cullors is certainly doing her best to open our eyes.

"The question is not what you look at, but how you look and whether you see." – Henry David Thoreau

Laissez le bon temps rouler!

With the exception of beignets, there is nothing that competes with the sweet deliciousness of King Cake on Mardi Gras.

It was only after meeting a native Louisianan, that I learned of this special coffee cake. As if a layer of purple, green, and gold icing were not enough, the cake's calling card is not its sugar-laden top but rather the figurine baked into the dough.

If you are lucky enough to find the small plastic baby in your slice of cake, prosperity is said to be yours for the remainder of the year.

So, as Marie Antoinette is rumored to have said.....

"Let them eat (King .... or perhaps Queen?) cake."

Yesterday was the fifty anniversary of the release of Carole King's masterpiece Tapestry.

Carole made her way from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, eventually settling in Laurel Canyon. Surrounded my like-minded souls, the release of Tapestry launched her into the singer-songwriter stratosphere. It garnered her four Grammy Awards that year, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year (for You've Got A Friend), and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female.

The album cover shows Carole and her cat Telemachus perched next to a window in her Laurel Canyon home. Oh to have been a fly on the wall during those magical and heady days....

"Ask anyone in America where the craziest people live and they'll tell you California. Ask anyone in California where the craziest people live and they'll say Los Angeles. Ask anyone in Los Angeles where the craziest people live and they'll say Hollywood. Ask anyone in Hollywood where the craziest people live and they'll say Laurel Canyon. Ask anyone in Laurel Canyon where the craziest people live and they'll say Lookout Mountain. So I bought a house on Lookout Mountain." – Joni Mitchell

Yesterday when I wandered down to the water's edge, I came upon four snowmen.

They appeared the day after our most recent snowstorm. Raised up from the flakes that had fallen on M Street beach.

After enduring a night of snapping wind and plummeting temperatures, I must say they looked a bit bedraggled. And yet, they held their ground. Silent stanchions looking out to the choppy waves of Boston Harbor.

Eventually warmer temps will erase them from the landscape. Gone perhaps, but not forgotten....

"Life is like a blanket of snow. Be careful how you step on it. Every step will show." – Unknown

The National Portrait Gallery is one of my favorite DC haunts. First opened to the public in 1968, it remains a "must stop" every time I venture to our country's capitol.

During my last visit, I went to see the newly installed portraits of the Obamas. Artist Amy Sherald, nine years Michelle's junior, captured the former First Lady. Kehinde Wiley, originally from Los Angeles, centered the former President amidst a leafy background, creating both a striking and original composition.

It's hard to capture what having the Obamas in the White House has meant to our nation's zeitgeist. Art is often the only medium up to the task......

"If you could say it with words, there would be no reason to paint." – Edward Hopper

I was never much of a card player. I know a few basic childhood games; Go Fish, Crazy Eights, and of course the kingpin of them all - Old Maid.

When I got older someone taught me Gin Rummy and Cribbage. But somehow I never progressed beyond that. Which makes my love for playing cards even more improbable.

I have a deck of the blue and red Bicycle cards, the industry standard since 1885. I have an old pack of TWA cards, with the airline insignia in the top lefthand corner. But my favorite set I bought at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, each showcasing a different country music star.

Shuffle 'em up. It's time for Dolly, Willie, Hank, and Loretta. Hearts, clubs, spades, and a diamond.....

"Everyone should be able to do one card trick, tell two jokes, and recite three poems, in case they are ever trapped in an elevator." - Daniel Handler

The road that runs along the ocean in South Boston ends at Sully's, a venerable shack that's served tourists and townies alike for the past 70 years. 

When you belly up to the counter you can get your fill of fried clam strips, hot dog rolls stuffed with lobster, and scoops of ice cream. It is summer made manifest. 

But my favorite factoid about Sully's has nothing to do with their menu. If you want to know when they close for the season, don't bother checking the website. They're on "seagull time." That is to say when the owners look out into the parking lot and see more seagulls than people, they know it's time to pack up and head to Florida.....

"Eagles are seagulls with a good hairdo." – Douglas Coupland

One of the icons of the Civil Rights movement, Rosa Parks was born 108 years ago today.

There has been a lot written about Rosa's refusal to give up her seat on that Montgomery bus. She knew the driver (James Blake), someone with whom she had a previous altercation. For twelve years she avoided any bus he was driving. But on December 1, 1955 she failed to notice who was sitting in the driver's seat as she entered. The result?

7053.

Parks was not the first African-American woman to be arrested for refusing to yield her seat, only the most famous. She followed in the footsteps of four others, hoping we would do the same....

“There were times when it would have been easy to fall apart or to go in the opposite direction, but somehow I felt that if I took one more step, someone would come along to join me.” – Rosa Parks

On Sunday mornings, after church, my family would divvy up the newspaper.

My brother swiped the comics. My Dad took the front page. My mother made a beeline for the crossword. I grabbed the sports section.

Over the course of the day we would trade portions back and forth. By late afternoon, the ink-smeared pages found their way back together again, haphazardly piled at one end of the couch after everyone had had their turn.

Metro. Obits. World News. Opinion. Lifestyle. Real Estate. T.V. Listings. Home and Garden. Automotive. Business and Finance. Classifieds. Editorials. Travel and Leisure. Society. Front Page. And of course, sports. I read them all.......

“People don’t actually read newspapers. They step into them every morning like a hot bath.” – Marshall McLuhan