Doris O'Brien is a retired college Speech teacher and banker. She has published two books of humor (Up or Down With Women's Liberation and Humor Me a Little) and for many years contributed light verse to the Pepper 'n Salt column of the Wall Street Journal. She is an avid writer of letters to the editors.
Doris celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary in the same year she welcomed her first grandchild. She now lives in Pasadena with a great view of the San Gabriel mountains — and the annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
She can be reached by e-mail: witsendob at (@) gmail.com
The Hague's Mauritshuis Marvelous Renovation Revealed: International Allure
Editor's Note: We attended the traveling exhibit at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco three times, once with our grandchildren; now we hope to visit the refurbished museum in The Hague. Val Castronovo reviewed the exhibit for SeniorWomen.com during its visit to New York City's Frick Museum. And, do not forget to visit the Museum's Shop. more »
Elaine Soloway's Widow Series: Sunday Breakfast, Minus One
The New Series: After Tommy died, I halted our Sunday routine and stayed away from Dapper's, our usual breakfast place, believing it would be too painful for me to enter without him. But this Sunday, I had to shop at Target in the same mall as the restaurant, so I figured it'd be a good opportunity to test a revisit. more »
Spare That Limb, Create a Damp Salt Lick and Build a Bee Condo: Creating a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators
The number of migrating Monarch butterflies sank to the lowest recorded population level in 2013-14, and there is an imminent risk of failed migration. Avoid modern hybrid flowers, especially those with "doubled" flowers. Often plant breeders have unwittingly left the pollen, nectar, and fragrance out of these blossoms while creating the "perfect" blooms for us. more »
Here Yesterday, Gone Today
Rose Madeline Mula writes: To go with that one-piece bathing suit was the inevitable cap — that scalp-hugging, hideous, rubber helmet worn today only by competitive swimmers to reduce drag and increase speed. Back in the day we girls all wore them, even if we just waded in the surf (which was my speed) to keep our hair dry. It wasn't pretty. The caps made us look like bald old men. Furthermore, they didn't really keep our hair dry.
more »
