Merlin’s favorite times of the year are the fall and spring, simply because that’s when windows can be open and he can watch (and smell) the birds and squirrels that he’d like to be outside chasing. Here, he peers intently at the back yard through the open window right next to my desk earlier this week. Merlin is the one who disappeared for a couple of days after an escape through a screen about two years ago. He doesn’t seem to eager to leave the comforts of home behind after that adventure.

It often takes approach of death to wake us from a dead-end life
It’s odd how ‘choice’ can mean ‘no choice’ with the state involved
Why let your enemy control you by choosing to listen to his hate?
Accepting joy tomorrow does no good if tomorrow never comes
When you make your life choices, you also pick the consequences
My father taught me not to trust; that’s been very tough to change
Loss of cultural consensus means violent conflict in decades ahead
Competent, beautiful girl mirrors what I’d love to have in daughter