Author - The Durango Herald

Will hope and beauty and being present get us through?

November is the cruelest month. It is the month when people I’ve known and loved have died. The clocks change and now it’s dark at 6. COVID-19 is still rampant with no end in sig...

DATE: Nov 6, 2020 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

The COVID-19 test: Confusion, frustration and gratitude

I had a COVID-19 test! It was negative, so I can breathe a sigh of relief. But the process of deciding to have the test, alerting people I had been with and the never-ending wait for the res...

DATE: Oct 3, 2020 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

What have you learned about yourself during this pandemic?

At one of those BYOB/backyard, socially distanced happy hours, a friend asked the question: “What have you learned about yourself during this pandemic?” I thought it was a brilliant question...

DATE: Sep 4, 2020 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

2020: A season of loss

It truly is a season of loss. Loss of our freedom and casualness to just come and go as we please. It’s a loss of seeing people we love and groups of people we’re used to meeting with. It’s ...

DATE: Aug 1, 2020 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

A rallying cry for our health and the community’s health

Sadly, I fear that we are experiencing another division between us during this pandemic. There is political discord, racial inequity, economic disparity, differences in the care ...

DATE: Jul 4, 2020 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

Can this time of uncertainty lead to transformation?

What if ... we chose to see this virus moment and this people’s revolt as an opening – a moment long enough to see ourselves, see the systems we’ve lived under for so long, and see our cultu...

DATE: Jun 6, 2020 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

COVID-19: Looking at death in the face

During this time of staying in (both in my house and in myself), I’ve come face to face with death. I have not gotten the virus, and I thank my lucky stars for that, but it’s bro...

DATE: May 2, 2020 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

Coronavirus: Fear and contraction, and hope and possibility

I think it’s Saturday – hard to know – the days are all the same now. This recent health crisis has brought up lots of emotions for everyone, young and old. Most people have a cer...

DATE: Apr 4, 2020 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

Outgoing or quiet, where are you?

Where are you on the spectrum of solitude, or being out in the community interacting with others? Has our line between introversion and extroversion changed as we age? Many of us ...

DATE: Mar 7, 2020 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

Choosing a rational suicide after a complete life

There is a difference between committing suicide and an elder choosing to end their life to avoid continued suffering from terminal illness. We regularly hear in the news about p...

DATE: Jan 31, 2020 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

Doctor appointments are becoming a way of life

I’ve decided to get all my medical appointments done in December and January, to start the year out healthy. It seems like many of us are going to more and more appointments the o...

DATE: Jan 3, 2020 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

Watching the Mercury transit and seeing our fragile condition

Fort Lewis College professor Charlie Hakes, who writes the astronomy column for The Durango Herald, set up a solar telescope with two different viewing lenses and filters in the third-floor ...

DATE: Dec 7, 2019 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging