Author Archives: John Swinburn

My new primary care doctor spent an hour and fifteen minutes with me yesterday, the longest “in-office” visit I can recall. Surgeons have spent more time with me, but I’ve been unaware of their presence as they sliced into my … Continue reading →

WordPress is being utterly uncooperative. Yesterday, with no warning and no discernable reason, it refused to show comments left on blog posts; not just new comments on new posts, but all comments on all posts. I can see that one … Continue reading →

Already, today is emerging as one of those days that challenge my on-again, off-again insistence the universe is essentially random. As I poured fresh water from a container into my coffee maker’s reservoir, I was surprised by the beauty of … Continue reading →

The competition between days with too many things demanding my attention and days requiring nothing of me is intense. I want both, but for different reasons. When obligations consume every waking second, my mind has little opportunity to dwell on … Continue reading →

My affable, cordial, compassionate neighbors have become friends. We are not extremely close, but we are becoming closer. They have friends who have known them for nearly fifty years; understandably, they are closer to those friends than to me. But … Continue reading →

A journal, properly maintained, serves as an historical record. Regularly left unattended when entries should have been made, though, a journal’s value declines precipitously. In the latter case, it may as well comprise random shreds of information that not only … Continue reading →

I am fortunate in that, when the world around me is too harsh to tolerate,  often I can retreat into my imagination. I can manufacture another world, a place filled with odd characters and bizarre landscapes; a haven free of … Continue reading →

Try as I might, I cannot seem to find the path that assures me I will not fall from a high beam into a canyon on one side or a deep stream on the other. No matter how closely I … Continue reading →

It turned out to be less ominous than it felt, but it was sufficiently troubling that it disrupted my routines. Assuming I have routines these days; I am not sure I do. Tuesday night, at around 9 pm, less than … Continue reading →

My blood pressure is not as high as I expected it might be, based on volume of the sounds in my head. 134/87 is, in fact, relatively close to the “normal” range, if memory serves me correctly. I frequently hear … Continue reading →

The last time I left yellow roses here on my blog in memory of my mother’s birthday was on her birthday three years ago. I think the first time I left these roses here for her was two years prior … Continue reading →

Another night of brief sleep, from midnight until 3:41. No dreams this time, though, that I recall. Instead, I spent many of the sleepless moments thinking about what the universe might be like if I had the wherewithal to recreate … Continue reading →

I do not recall a night like last night when my thoughts were so insistent on refusing to let me sleep. I did all the tricks I could think of, to no avail. No matter the approach, my mind flooded … Continue reading →

For the first time in quite a while, I knew by the time I touched the keyboard of my laptop computer than I would write and post two articles today. This is the first. Normally, I would have posted first … Continue reading →

Fastidious cooks, I suspect, clean their ovens after each use, preserving the bright-as-new shine that looks, to me, like an oven has been ignored. But looks can be deceiving; those fastidious cooks apply more energy and time than I am … Continue reading →

Sometime within the last week or two, dictionary.com and thesaurus.com got new looks. I use both websites quite often, though I haven’t visited them for several days. This morning, as I clicked on my desktop link to dictionary.com, I noticed … Continue reading →

Obituaries rarely capture my attention, but one I read this morning did. It was the death notice of the neighbor who died almost two weeks ago. The obituary told the story of his long life in a truly loving way, … Continue reading →

Soon after I awoke this morning, I developed a craving for congee. My impatience kicked in at the same time, so I cobbled together many (but not all) of the ingredients for basic congee, threw them in the Instant Pot, … Continue reading →

As the pressure builds inside this bubble we call the United States, I suspect more and more people are beginning to develop a tiny shred of understanding of what it might be like to seek asylum in a country other … Continue reading →

I spent too much time this morning writing a post that I dare not make public, lest I be accused of conspiracy to practice unlicensed surgery by excising the malignancy of a grotesque public hypocrite from the body politic. That … Continue reading →

I have only vague recollections of Buffy Sainte-Marie from the late 1970s and early 1980s, although I instantly recognize her name when I hear it. And I remember her fame emerged from her music, though I do not recall specific … Continue reading →

Light is just now beginning to soak through the blackness of the sky, evidence that daylight is on its way. I hope the promise of light is not a false promise. I hope the brilliant light that illuminated my world … Continue reading →

I spoke to the administrator and to the head nurse yesterday. And I spoke to my wife. The participants in the two former conversations seemed more interested in talking to me. My wife said she wanted to get on her … Continue reading →

At what point do I say “Enough!” and let my gut take over, demanding action in place of my fear of doing the wrong thing? That is my dilemma this morning. And it has been my dilemma for days, if … Continue reading →