Inner Nature: Poisonous and venomous animals
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
I am in India. It’s a vibrant and bustling place. This month, a couple of friends and I are planning a trip to a wildlife sanctuary in Southern India*. We hope to see tigers and a plethora of other animals and plants.
What I am hoping we do not encounter closely are mosquitoes and snakes. I do not like mosquitoes, but I do like snakes, in principle. But many snakes...
Don’t Retire, ReFire: March, lion or lamb?
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
You know the saying about March coming in like a lion and out like a lamb, with the intended meaning that March starts off with cold winters and ends with warmer, spring weather?
It’s a perfect metaphor as March straddles two seasons, ending one and starting another.
Our lives are all about endings and beginnings. March reminds us of that.
So now that I’ve...
Don’t retire, Refire: Be Curious
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
February, while a short month, tends to drag, just like January did, at least it does for those who long for the warmer weather.
How are we spending these short, cold days until Spring rolls around?
Many of us hibernate, becoming sedentary, eating too much, drinking too much, sitting too much and basically becoming couch potatoes.
As the days slowly get longer...
Inner Nature: The incredibly resilient tardigrade
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
In the annals of the ecosystem’s version of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not is a long list of organisms that are considered over-performers: tough, enduring and even thriving in environmentally adverse conditions. Most endure in state known as cryptobiosis (also called anabiosis), which means “mysterious or enigmatic” and refers to the difficulty in telling if...
ReFire at any age: A time for renewal
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
Renewal comes in many forms. That’s what the start of a new year is. That’s what each birthday is. Think of winter, when everything goes dormant, waiting for the renewal of spring.
They are all forms of renewal and signify a rebirth.
As we “turn the page” to a new year, our minds may give thought to a fresh start. My mind always does, every year.
With...
Inner Nature: Palynology
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
Palynology is the study of tiny particles such as pollen, spores, dust and soil particles, microfossils, and other miniature items that are carried as inclusions in macro items such as rock layers, soil on a shoe, paint on a wall, and foodstuffs such as honey. The presence of pollen in honey provides a clue to the flowers from which bees obtain nectar, and is a...
Healthcare: the battle for survival
By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times
As the end of a very unusual year comes to a close I have been looking at what changes this has brought to the small business community. Like many independent dental practices I am a small businesswoman. My industry is a bit different however than many other small businesses, in that we have no mechanism to raise our fees when the costs of...
ReFire at any age: It’s that time of year…..
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
How would you finish that phrase?
The song finishes that phrase with, “when the world falls in love”. That doesn’t necessarily mean to fall in love romantically. I think it means falling in love with life.
I would tweak that phrase a bit by saying; it’s that time of year for spreading love, joy and cheer.
The excitement of the holiday season is all...
Inner Nature: Bloody Colors
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
I got some nice feedback from people who enjoyed my previous article on the similarities between eggs and seeds –two apparently disparate things which have the same function. This month, to celebrate the season of leaf color changes and the season of Halloween (or Hallowe’en), I am going to compare fall leaf colors and the colors of blood. Yes, colors of blood;...
Don’t retire, ReFire: Living in gratitude
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
Thanksgiving is the holiday in November that just about everybody celebrates, and with that, thoughts and sentiments of gratitude start to surface because after all, that’s what Thanksgiving is all about, giving thanks.
Beginning on the first of November, posts start popping up on several different social media platforms with people sharing what they are...
