Currently browsing category

BIKING

SMILING STRANGERS

When I, always the initiator, smile at a stranger and the stranger smiles back, it puts a musical note in my step. Or in my pedal, as was the case on Christmas Eve day. I was on a long bike ride from New Jersey to Staten Island and, when a driver …

ANTIDOTE TO WORRY: CRUNCHY SALAD

I needed an antidote to worry this weekend, when my bike got a flat tire and then my car wouldn’t start. So here is the latest in my Antidote to Worry Series of food photos and such. Here’s how I compose this satisfying crunchy salad: A base of arugula Trader Joe’s …

CAN YOU HELP MY MOM EXPRESS HERSELF?

Only eight weeks ago, I was on a half-hour bike ride home, all uphill, when I called Mom for our daily shmooze. We caught up on political scandals, Sarah Palin, literature, Oprah and Mom’s latest Bingo game. While we talked, mounting the hill was effortless. Shortly after that, her doctor determined …

SHOULD I BE WORRIED ABOUT MY MEMORY?

Call me Ms Memory, given my recent article: 21 WAYS TO REMEMBER PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING! But last week I go upstairs before my dentist appointment to change into something cooler. I take off my sweats, brush my hair, and then head downstairs to get going on my bike. Halfway down the stairs, …

LETTER FROM BEIJING

Unrelated announcement: Worried about your waistline over the holidays?  See some great diet tips in my new Home Goes Strong post: Stock Your Kitchen to Reduce Your Waistline. When traveling, I experience this pull between what I feel like doing and what I think I ought to be doing.  In …

BIKE CRASH STORY

Today, as I was unlocking my bike in front of Trader Joe’s, I heard the sound of car meets guy on bike, and I looked up to see this guy sliding off the hood of the car that hit him. To my relief, he picked up his bike and hobbled …

SERENDIPITY ON A BIKE IN BEIJING

While writing a recent article for Huffington Post, “Worrywart’s 8 Stress-Reducing Things to Do in Beijing,” I began thinking about how much planning a worrier does before traveling in order to help assure things go okay.  Yet the most fun parts of a trip can result from allowing serendipity to take over, …