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Credit: Millie Grenough Last Wednesday my daughter-in-law asked her two boys, 8-year-old Jules and just-turned-5 Theo, what they did in school that day. The voices from both ends of the table piped out, “Earth Day!” Theo added, “Mother Earth takes care of us, so we need to take care of her.” I thought it was a good time for GranMillie …

  Credit: Millie Grenough Pretty amazing, isn’t it? Tons of snow atop them for weeks. And now these voluptuous velvets emerge. Just like that. No bruises. No complaints. Here they are. Free. Right in my front yard. Naive flirts, inviting me and all my neighbors: “Feast on us!” Their simple magnificence entices me to offer you my Oasis in the …

credit: Millie Grenough Remember way back when I promised that I’d lie in my hammock for 10 minutes at least three times a week? Well, I didn’t. What do now — beat myself up? Say what a slacker I am, especially since I’m the “expert” on self-care and re-wiring our brains towards healthy habits? Nah, that’s a sure waste of …

Valentine’s Day pitches everywhere: on my street corner, online, in the drugstore. Makes me wonder: what is at the heart of this day? When I came in from shopping, I glanced back at old mail, old photos, old cards, and found this photo of then two-year-old Mikhayla. She gave me the answer. Love is the heart: the simplicity of giving …

Finances tight? Overwhelmed by all the people you have to make happy? These days can escalate stress in all of us. They are especially difficult for people in military service or other dangerous occupations, and for their families. A while back I did a workshop at our local Veterans Hospital. I remember Alicia especially. Her husband was a wounded Vietnam …

Crazed with last-minute preparations? Dig into this Sanity Tip Menu for a pre-Thanksgiving shift. No charge. No tax. No reservations needed. Prep time? Two minutes. MAIN DISH: Choose someone in your family/social circle who sometimes acts like a turkey. Think of an unexpected treat you could give to that person. It may be a shift in your attitude towards her/him, or …

“Everybody I know is just flat-out overwhelmed. Me, too.” It was my 30-something niece Suzy on her speaker phone. She was driving her 2-year-old son Gus and her Dad to a couple of errands outside of Indianapolis. The day before, I had e-mailed all my family members to ask their opinions on a title for my new Oasis book. Suzy …

Common element in Steve Jobs, Arianna Huffington, Millie Grenough, Karen Gomez: a) creativity b) crazy-busy schedules c) meditation practice d) all the above If you answered d, you got it right. Steve? Here’s what he told his biographer Walter Isaacson: If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, …

Well, it’s over. August is gone. Back at the usual. Savoring tangible souvenirs of my two weeks in the backcountry of Maine: multiple multi-color bruises on legs and hips from tumbles into the raging Wassataquoik Stream north of Katahdin, scratches on my arms from Saddle Ridge boulders on our darkened 8 p.m. descent, a few pounds lighter in my body. …

The other day my buddy Joe and I walked down the street bemoaning all the tragedies that are happening in the world. And yes, we grumbled about the oppressive heat. “It’s never been this hot!”  “Yeah, and it’s never lasted this long…” Suddenly, a sprinkle of water hit us. We looked up out of our grumbledness to see the neighbor kid …