When I was a wee boy living in the Canadian wilderness, we needed to dig a well, so my dad hired a creepy-looking guy called a “water witch” to wander the property holding a forked stick out...
Get up, Bambi
By
Gary Tetz
Oct 01, 2020
At this point, we dare not muse aloud about what else could possibly go wrong in 2020. It’s no longer about the second shoe dropping. We appear to be dealing with an evil centipede who still has at least...
Accept and connect
By
Gary Tetz
Sep 22, 2016
Thanks to the inadvertent generosity of Starbucks, I didn’t have to climb a mountain in my bare feet or learn to speak Tibetan to discover the secret of peace and happiness. It was delivered personally...
The ultimate antidote to long COVID of the soul
By
Gary Tetz
Jun 16, 2022
For a “recovering pessimist” like myself, few things are more annoying than being told that optimism is some sort of magic potion. But that’s exactly what recent research, reported by McKnight’s,...
A table on the patio
By
Gary Tetz
Sep 07, 2023
Through countless decades, multiple relationships and what feels like dozens of marriages (actually only two, but it’s still early today), this is pretty much the extent of my accrued knowledge: Women...
Scattering seeds
By
Gary Tetz
Nov 15, 2018
It was my birthday yesterday — the same day I found out that Fernald, a World War II veteran and one of the wisest, bravest and most adorable people I’ve ever known, had passed away.
Eye contact or Angry Birds?
By
Gary Tetz
Jan 16, 2013
My wife’s a Realtor. And no, I’m not wondering if you or anyone you know would like to buy or sell a home in Walla Walla, WA. That would be a crass and brazen misuse of this forum. Though if...
Lessons under anesthesia
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 12, 2018
Nothing ever makes me feel more empathy for those we care for than my own occasional reluctant forays into our American healthcare pseudo-system. I just walked a mile in somebody else’s figurative...
No place for a pessimist
By
Gary Tetz
Feb 22, 2024
My new co-worker’s eyes sparkled with excitement and anticipation when he said it, like a child on Christmas morning expecting to find a Red Ryder BB gun under the tree. “I love...
The beauty of bad publicity
By
Gary Tetz
Aug 28, 2014
When I saw the New York Times article illuminating the clever ways devious operators could inflate their Medicare star ratings, I had mixed emotions ranging from fury to rage.