I’m not a morning person, but I get up early and go outside to my Florida back yard where the air is humid and heavy even before the sun comes up. I’m […]
Why Would You Start Raising Monarch Butterflies?
Becoming a Siren
When the weather is decent, I prefer being outside. I have a screened-in, backyard patio where I sit to drink coffee, read, eat lunch, or simply think. The backyard is like a […]
5 Ways to Love and Let Go of Foster Dogs
by Lisa Lanser Rose People tell me all the time they admire me for fostering dogs. “I could never foster,” they say. “I’d get too attached.” I know it’s meant as […]
Woman’s Meditation on Taking Down the Christmas Tree
The boxes, stacked in the garage, seem new to me, plastic with clip-lock lids, but we’ve had them for years. They’re dusty and drizzled by Floridian garage-fawna. They don’t look like the […]
The Dog Park
Savvy begins to bark before I even have my tennis shoes all the way on. She’s excited! We’re going to the dog park! Hurry up! Time for a walk! It drives my […]
Speaking Out about Doctors Assaulting Patients #MeToo
“Dear Ms. Gilman,
Thank you for submitting your complaint [to the Florida Dept. of Health Bureau of Enforcement].
We have determined from our review that although the behavior you described is unacceptable, it is not a violation of the laws or rules that regulate the healthcare practitioner’s profession. Therefore, we can take no further action.
Florida law requires that all information in this complaint remain confidential…”
“Gaslight,” a Poem by Tanya Grae
All we who have spoken out or are still speaking out in the #MeToo movement can appreciate and understand this poem by Tanya Grae, who writes “When a woman confides the violence […]
How Do We Stop the Harvey Weinsteins, Bill Cosbys, Roger Aileses, and Bill O’Reillys of the World?
If we don’t take action to solve this problem, we’re continuing to foster a culture that objectifies, sexualizes, demeans, and diminishes women, a culture that accepts their victimhood along with the sins of the men who victimize.
3 Gifts Hurricane Irma Gave Me
Irma Gave Me an Adventure. You can have an adventure, you can have a story to tell, so a story is something that belongs to you and something someone–or something–can give you. […]
Why Positive Reinforcement Works
I used to joke that everything I learned about teaching, I learned from dog training. Then I’d scold my class, “Sit! Stay! Hush!” The truth is, especially since the rise of positive […]
The Gloria Sirens 