Did I save every card for 35 years? It appears so. In her book Better Than Before, Gretchen Rubin highlights strategies for making and breaking habits. She suggests a clean slate strategy when you have the opportunity to start or stop a new habit - such as not installing all of your apps on a new phone, or taking advantage of a new commute to read more.

Kate Spade bag purchased because it holds two phones. Many readers will know that I have recently retired from full-time work as a local government manager, after almost 24 years in the seat (all of them in one town). I've been musing a lot about who I am since I am no longer the Town Manager. I am sure to have a lot of feelings about this transition, but I have decided that the time for self-reflection is most certainly not now.

Readers will recall that I recently lamented about giving up my father's collection of books about the City of Boston. I couldn't bear to put them in the book sale bin at the local library, and no one else wanted them. A thoughtful reader referred me to Dan Dain, a lawyer who lives in the town where I work. The reader told me that Dan had recently written a book called…

The tip of the iceberg. Both of my parents have now passed away, and it falls to the four of us siblings to find a home for innumerable collections. How could two elderly people have so many dishes? Plates? Crystal Fork Rests? Rocks? Shells? Postcards? Stamps? And most of all - books. My youngest brother has taken on the largest share of the burden.

1990's Alarm Clock: note the reflection of trees in the backyard. I woke up at 4:39 a.m. the other day, as one does, thinking about uncertainty. I realized that there was one thing I knew for certain - it wasn't 4:39. Remember during the pandemic years when everything was "unprecedented?" Well now we cannot escape "uncertainty." Changes in the presidency always bring some level of uncertainty, and it's fair to say that the current uncertainty quotient is quite high.