My 68th


Am I really 68?
Yup!

Life isn't easy, but it is good.   B - is a wonderful partner.   We struggle, and we both love each other deeply.



My granddaughter Hazel will have her first birthday in late May.   She has just started to walk within the past week.   She is a wonderful part of my family!   I suspect that she will become a "terror" during at least the second half of her coming year.   She is not easily distractible.  Hazel will likely soon make impossible demands with her words, as can be common in young children.  Meanwhile, she is simply delightful!   I am so, so lucky!



Zoey is a delight.    She is scared of umbrellas, shopping bags and carts and some other things.   She is cuddly, loving and wonderful both with other dogs and people.   She will chase a ball, and sometimes bring it back.    She loves going into her crate, where she gets a kong with peanut butter.   Zoey is slow at going, when out - taking her time.   She's had too, too many accidents just inside the Bark Bark Club, when then for daycare or boarding.

I am trying to work on my racism.    I have started The Chicago Anti-Racism Meetup.   No one came to the first meetup.   I have sent an email to roughly 45 churches, temples and mosques seeking potential members.   If, the second meeting is similar, I will abandon this effort.

I'm hoping to join a national effort of a new friend name Marv, which, if successful, will do a lot related to black-white ties and racism.    We are exploring my possible involvement now.

Working Towards Ending Racism is my newer blog, needing a lot more work on it.   I am strongly influenced by Dr. Robin DiAngelo's incredible:  White Fragility, which I recommend that white people (at least) watch on YouTube.

Jewish Voice for Peace - Chicago is my other outward effort.   If my anti-racism work doesn't overwhelm my time, I will get more involved with JVP, an excellent national group.

My work on men's issues has gone back to my first (1981 or 1982) men's group and in 1983 helping to co-found Men Stopping Rape, Inc (seems to be defunct now), which in the mid-1980's was the most effective men's anti-rape group in the U.S.   I have been involved with The Mankind Project since 2014.   Since I moved to Chicago a year ago, my experiences with it have been quite mixed.    I am seriously exploring and beginning involvement with a Chicago Area Group:  Victories of the Heart which seems like a better match for me.

I am needing to seriously work on living through my feelings.   I have long lived through my brain; my intellect, explaining my feelings, but not fully experiencing them.   It is difficult, but important work for me.  As part of that, I am (finally) starting to develop what will become meaningful, deep friendships with a few men.

It is wonderful living on Lake Michigan in Chicago!    The sunrises are incredible!   Our bedroom view is incredible.   The (roof) view below is hardly 'better than our bedroom view.


I am thankful for the wonderful bridge partnership I have developed with Joe, a most accommodating  partner and friend.    Though we are very, very different, we respect each other greatly and work well together.   A high point of our game was having a 75% game with got us mention in the November, 2018 American Contract Bridge League Bulletin.

I read and greatly appreciate my Wisconsin Badgers football and basketball.   Secondarily I'm a season ticket holder and fan of Loyola (Men's) Basketball.   I exercise daily in our downstairs gym.   Currently I alternate between 400 (weight) lifts with 36 minutes on a stationary bicycle, and 48-56 minutes on the stationary bicycle along with a lot of stretching exercises every day.

Unfortunately I have not fully licked my constipation problem, which persists after my concluding physical therapy recently.   Hopefully, will be taken care of in the short-term.    It is far, far better to no longer have problems with my legs and neck, related to what my MRI  indicated was a herniated disc in my lower back.   My heart condition seems fully under control, with yearly check-ups.

I am enjoying my life!  Thank you!

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