Paula Dunning Posts

A note from a frustrated author. No matter how hard I try or how many hours–yes, hours–I spend trying to incorporate text and photos in a more imaginative way, I fail. What looks perfect in draft form morphs into chaos when posted. Is it possible that I will have to…

A month or so ago I wrote a poem. Poetry is not my forte, and I won’t embarrass myself by sharing it. But the gist of it was that, even as I tried to prepare myself for what I knew was coming by imagining Jack gone, I knew that when…

I’ve never been good at carefully following world events that don’t feel are either close to me or earth-shattering. I read the headlines and have a sense of where the action is, but I skim over the details. Of course, I’m often wrong about the global impact what’s happening in,…

What makes life worth living? For me, that question was the most important take-away from Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal—a must-read for anyone who is aging or has aging parents. And it’s a question that is increasingly on my mind. According to Gawande, it’s also a question that every physicians should ask…

I’m watching the world I know teeter on the edge of disaster. Since there’s nothing I can do but watch and worry, I’m turning my attention to the things I can control. Like the furniture in our little cabin on the lake. When we bought this place 26 years ago,…

I haven’t been blogging much lately—not for a lack of things to think about. More likely because of a surfeit. Every time I imagine sitting down to write, I am overwhelmed by the things that gnaw at me—the pandemic, Jack’s cancer (he’s doing well), the unravelling of the country I…

I’ve had a little note beside my computer for several days now: blog post. But there are only two things on my mind, really. The corona virus, of course, and its possible personal and broader social consequences—about which I have nothing to say that isn’t on everybody’s mind anyway. And Jack’s…

We’ve been home from Mexico for a week now, self-isolated as per government orders and waiting for news about when Jack can get back into the medical system. He’s been in touch with his oncologist, who has ordered scans to be scheduled as soon as possible after our isolation ends—in…

Beginning with jack’s collapse and seizure a mere week ago, followed by the discovery that his cancer has metastasized to the brain, and the almost simultaneous decision by the Canadian government to call all citizens back to the country in the face of the rapidly developing corona virus pandemic, it’s…

This is going to be a brief, information-sharing post for folks I have not been able to contact personally. I haven’t been blogging much lately, but we’ve been having a fine winter here in Guanajuato. Although we are always aware that Jack is dealing with cancer, he has been very…

I thought maybe I’d write about having the flu in Mexico, because I do. But it’s much like the flu anywhere else, and what with the DEADLY coronavirus grabbing all the headlines, I don’t expect anyone would pay much attention. I am in no danger of dying. Indeed, I am…

This post is a thoughtful warning to those interacting with young adult children or grandchildren. The word “telephone” is no longer in use. If you didn’t know that, you—like me—may become an object of derision. It seems “phone” is still acceptable, though more as a noun than a verb. To…

I’ve just spent a delightful couple of evenings with my dad, who’s been dead for the last 35 years. No, not a séance. A collection of letters he wrote over a three-year period in the 1960s. So for the second post in a row, I’m writing about Dad—in part because…

I’ve had this photo in my memory for a long time, but I never had a copy of it. It still hangs in the Lemont, Pennsylvania post office. At a recent family gathering, we ended up chatting about my dad and his role in securing a new post office for…

Yesterday we took what may be this year’s last hike through the woods. It was the revival of a hiking weekend tradition established with friends some years ago but abandoned the last few years due to aching backs, newly replaced joints, and general malaise. This year, we were all in…

May… The worn deck boards are splintered and rotting in places—too far gone to bother with the semi-annual coat of stain. Parts of the deck are twenty years old, parts even older— evolved over the past forty-six years from a small entrance landing to a sprawling, wrap-around deck. The various…