Closing institutions was supposed to help, and instead, it led to a new set of problems. — A man in our neighborhood harasses people. The other day, he barged into the neighborhood pool area and began shouting at a family. He insulted the parents and children, telling them they were too fat to be seen in public. Then he followed the kids around and called them disgusting. …

Surprising report leaves experts wondering why — According to CBS news, for the week of April 23, the rate of Covid-19 in boosted Americans was more than double the rate of infections in those who were vaccinated but unboosted. Nobody seems to be sure why, but a few theories are being floated. One is that there’s a…

You need to engage with people to succeed at most any career — I read somewhere that 20,000 new articles a day were published on Medium. That’s PER DAY, and the number is probably higher. With those odds, it’s a challenge to get eyeballs on your stories. I’ve also read a lot of advice about how to write better, get more views, beat…

If you’ve been vaccinated, worn a mask and social distanced for two years, you’ve done everything you can. — “I shouldn’t have let down my guard. I’m triple vaxxed and I’ve worn a mask everywhere except for that one time.” “I isolated for two years, but then I made a big mistake. I went to my granddaughter’s wedding, and sure enough. I got Covid!” “I got careless and went…

Too many religious films are dull and predictable. This one is different. — “Have you seen The Chosen?” My friend asked during a conversation about books and movies. I admitted I hadn’t. I’m a Christian, but too many religious films are dull and predictable. When I settle on the couch with my husband for a bit of binge watching, we usually choose a…

The United States has problems, but that’s not the whole picture — The United States is in trouble. Like other countries, we have problems. A big one these days is the political divide that prevents us from addressing issues like crime, abortion, and gun violence. I’ve read a lot of articles lately by people who are ashamed to be an American and…

It’s imperative that we stop, or at least greatly reduce, the opportunities for individuals to carry out mass murder. — On Memorial Day, I woke to a cloudless blue sky. School was out for summer, and a sun-drenched day meant families flocking to beaches and lakes. Then I thought of the murdered children in Uvalde, Texas. Those children would never again play on sandy beaches, picnic with their families, or…

I’ve got plenty — If people are starving this winter due to food shortages, they can come to my house. There are no shortages in our pantry because my husband buys in bulk. It used to alarm me. “Why are you buying so much? There’s only the two of us.” Then it amused me…

I wrote a humor piece that didn’t get chosen for distribution, but shortly after The Haven published it, the number of views shot up to over a thousand. That’s not a whole lot, but compared to other humor pieces that aren’t selected by the curators, it was doing pretty well. …