JPPENS

My solitary fitness walks have become not only a necessary part of my life for wellness but the past decade it has allowed me the peace and calm I find from seeing "my tree".  It majestically owns a mountain ridge, beaming its rounded crested image through every season and welcomes me with my silent prayers of peace, hope, and tears of fear. Those who know me also know of my tree as it lays witness to all who drive into our community. Some have asked since they know I talk to my tree, does it talk to you? My response is always the same..."no, it does not talk to me but it whispers to my heart"... As the most trying times of my life in America continue to show themselves to me every single day I find I have to actually talk myself out of frustration, out of anger, out of anxiousness and into remembering who I am, how I struggled to be here and what I value; and, still I want to rage! Rage against what I see happening in this country and to its people.   The citizens ...

The view of my desk calendar reminds me that another year is about to evaporate...twelve months, 52 weeks and 365 days just gone, disappeared as quickly as the steam rising over my morning coffee...  where did the time go...what did I do and how did I spend it? A calendar flip for decades has meant for some hope and change for new beginnings: to lose weight, to change jobs, to get engaged or maybe divorced, to be a bit other minded, to travel, to read more, to get a pet, to stop drinking, to get healthy, to do more, spend less, get a hobby...these may not be resolutions but these glances back can be prompts to encourage us to do some reflection of not only where we were but how we did what we did with the time... We humans are a unique breed of being...I have heard it said that "all people are broken" and I tend to believe that. There is no escaping the cracks and fractures we develop as we walk these dirt and paved roads. Nature, nurture, circumstances, decisions and choice...

  This time of year is different from the other ten months whether we want to believe it or not and for so many reasons, great for some and not so much so for others... I recently heard someone express why Thanksgiving was their favorite holiday and simply put she said something like "because there are no expectations and it's just people gathering to talk, listen and eat, no presents, no tinsel or trees".  I began to think about who I would want to sit at my Thanksgiving table but more importantly why I would invite them... Our world is filled with APPS, all we have to do is touch a button on our smart phones and we can read just about anything on the planet or click on YouTube to learn how to fix whatever. So, I decided maybe I and maybe you could use a written individual GRATITUDE TABLE APP just to remind us of the who and the why. Our lives are not about what surrounds us, but about who surrounds us. Here we go...   Type in your search window  WINEINGWITHJACKIE....

Back in the 50's and 60's I was a kid who slept with my glove, had my Carl Yastrzemski bat by my bed and played sandlot baseball until the snow got too deep and my dreams were filled with being a professional baseball player... Back then girls were not allowed to play on organized teams at all but some of us continued to find ways to play the game we loved with the guys.  By the time I was in high school I settled on playing softball. I was as devoted to it as I had been to baseball and was fortunate to be involved as a player, a coach or an umpire for almost three decades. My understanding of the game of baseball was used in my softball life but I never lost my love affair with baseball. The Boston Red Sox were and still are my team.   Strolling down Yawkey Way when the Sox were hosting the Yankees was a lifetime memory. Sitting in the bleachers about as far away from home plate as possible looking over to the green monster always left me in awe.  I kept an eye on t...

                                                                                                                                                             As Labor Day approaches and our summer habits wane we naturally begin to remember what our elementary school teachers asked upon our return to school..."Did you have fun this summer?" By middle school it was more like " How did you stay busy this summer?", and by the time we hit high school summer was pretty much a distant memory. Now, in my retirement years I find that I look at my summer and pretty much all of my seasons a bit differently, kin...

WE THE PEOPLE, will continue to speak up, speak out, reach out, march, shout and PROTEST our present non functioning government that has been created because of the fear of a mentally sick man with money and moneyed friends. THIS can not be a one time thing...it must continue, grow and become frequent for us to get our country back folks.