Our older son often referred to Peter and me as his “classical-music-loving- parents.” And with good reason.  All our household listening devices were pre-set to Boston’s one classical music station.

The New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall was one of out favorite in-person performance venues.  Last Sunday I attended a concert by Boston’s Civic Symphony there. The 1000-seat hall was sparsely filled—it seemed that there were more orchestra members on the stage than concert attendees.

The usual suspect (a Boston Red Sox game) was out of town.  There was a performance at Symphony Hall just around the corner, but there are enough potential concert-goers to fill both halls.

Where were they?

Let’s see…is there anything worse than sitting at the Toyota dealer waiting for your car’s annual service checkup?  Maybe losing your smart phone? Maybe the sound of your dentist’s drill approaching your open mouth?  

After two hours of waiting in the Toyota dealer’s “lounge” last week, I learned that my 2016 Prius with only 26,000 miles “needs” almost $1,000 worth of work. My car runs like a charm, has a few discreet scratches and gets me where I need to go.  But the service people are paid to repair, and they are good at finding worn-out or “broken” things to replace.

I was able to delay a couple of recommended fixes to next year (when I might not even be driving anyway) and cut the bill by $200. 

It could have been worse…

I don’t know how it came to mind, but it did.  I think it was while chatting with two friends about summer camp.  The subject turned to camp songs, and although from three different camps, we all remembered “Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be…?” And we burst into song.  Here’s how it goes:

Oh dear, what can the matter be?

Seven old ladies locked in the lavatory.

They were there from Sunday to Saturday. 

Nobody knew they were there…

Listen on You-Tube. I guarantee that you’ll be smiling.

(As I am now.)

I have visited Spain a few times, although not recently, and I would happily visit again.  But unlike an increasing number of U.S. citizens, it never occurred to me to move there permanently.

In 2019, forty thousand Americans lived in Spain.  Last year, that number had risen to sixty thousand.  Some say it is because of a superior quality of life, including a low cost of living, good public healthcare and a healthy work/life balance (even though the long siesta of the past has mostly disappeared).

Tempting, but at 80-something…

I think I’d better stay where I am.

The first time I visited San Francisco, Peter and I had just learned that I was pregnant with my first-born son, Seth.  Last week when I visited San Francisco, Seth joined me from Brazil with his pregnant wife.

We did what most visitors do–the crooked street, the “pretty ladies” houses, the Tenderloin and more. We also spent time in Carmel and visited the highlights of that city and nearby Monterrey. Most memorable and totally new to me was the Point Lobos state park. Pictures are worth a thousand words. Have a look at: bit.ly/41BiP1S.

I spent a lot of time in an airplane for a way too short visit.

I’d do it again tomorrow…

I hadn’t been in San Francisco in years, but in my visit last week, I found it has not lost its charm.

The cable cars are still a great attraction. However, the city has a striking new mode of transportation.  It’s called Waymo. It was very cool to watch sparkling white Jaguar SUVs weave their way through San Francisco traffic, but ride in one?  I wasn’t sure.  However, when our foursome needed a ride to a restaurant, we decided to give it a try.

I’m here to tell you that it was amazing.  Sparkling clean.  Insists that you fasten your seat belt. Choose any music that you want. 

Watching that wheel spin on its own. weaving around a large truck in the next lane, stopping at red lights, making left turns.  Absolutely thrilling.

It felt a bit like an amusement park ride.  I was a kid again oohing, aahing, giggling. When we arrived at our destination, our car pulled over to the curb and waited patiently while the four of us got safely out. Then it pulled back into traffic, on its way to pick up the next fare.

Only drawback–a driver probably would have noticed that the occupant of the front seat left his umbrella there.

Boston Globe columnist Beth Teitell had some wonderful advice which I hope to take and want to share with 80-something readers. Teitell writes that her 93-year old father is a proponent of “The ‘What the Hell’ diet.”  He eats whatever he wants.

According to an expert consulted byTeitell, “When you get to be 85-plus, your death rate stops climbing as fast. You have hit the mortality plateau.”  Further, he explains, at that point, you probably have avoided genetic diseases so it will be something “non-genetic” that eventually gets you.

Read no further—just pass the potato chips!

Normally when I am sitting in on the classes I audit, I concentrate on the professor.  But the other day I was distracted in my political theory class.

Directly in front of me (on an unusually warm March morning) was a student who caught my attention.

Her caramel-colored back was bare except for an orange cord tied around her neck (and presumably also around her waist which I couldn’t see).

I first noticed her shiny black shoulder-length hair.  More compelling was a tattoo of a rose bud at the top of her spine, its long green leafed stem going as far down her back as I could see.

At some point, she donned a heavy jacket, a relief to me because the classroom was cold.  But when she got up to leave after class, I could see her lovely face which (no surprise)…

Sported a silver nose ring.

(Source: Stop Filling You Mind With Digital Doritos (3/29/26 NYTimes)

Have you given any thought to how your brain is doing recently?

An article by Professor Cal Newport of Georgetown University quotes a study about artificial intelligence that revealed a “significant negative correlation between frequent AI tool use and critical thinking abilities.”  Other studies have shown that school phone bans improve students’ tests scores. The article is a call to action

On the rare occasion when my phone is (accidentally) not with me, I feel unsettled. This article makes a strong case for us to not constantly check our phones.  Will it change my behavior?  Or the behavior of others?

Unlikely.

Sometimes being compulsive is not-so-bad.  For me, about twenty minutes of stretches is how I compulsively start each day. Now that I think about it, I’ve been starting my day that way for decades. 

Oddly, there is one stretch that always makes me think of Peter.  On my stomach, I bend one leg at a time to my hip.  Peter could do both legs at once.  Of course, I think of (and miss) him at many other times, but that morning stretch is a constant reminder.

And always will be…