The magic wand of winter Will let snow fall splinter by splinter. Let them be splinters of health and happiness, Tinkling snow-flakes of adventure readiness. Let some of them turn into coins of gold, And the others fall into cookies mold. So the holidays smell of elation, And the coming year becomes a merry God’s creation. Take care, Helena Smole, author of: – a fantasy novel with romance Vivvy and Izzy the Dwarf: A series about relationships – Balancing the Beast, a book offering a bright view of schizoaffective disorder ˗ bipolar or manic-depressive type ...

I had a most peculiar dream the other night: I was looking out the window in our apartment. I saw what I can see in real life: the roofs of about a hundred houses lined up in parallel streets. At the edge of the group of houses there was a giant machine, which does not exist in real life. Basically, it looked like a crane, but it was much more than that. It was a most magical appliance building contractors can only dream of. I saw it remove the roof of a house standing on the rim of the group of houses. Right afterwards the special machine built a new roof out of thin air. Both the removal and the...

I have my reading glasses now alright, but it has taken me a year to get them. How so? It has been because of my denial. Let me tell you the whole story. Approximately a year ago I noticed in the evening, in electric light that my vision was a bit blurred. I was looking a word up in a German paper dictionary. I was helping my husband translating a German text, a report from a German company his company is working for. I have been helping him a lot, also with reading German books. He is learning this new language because of new clients. I act like a live dictionary and grammar. It makes me very happy...

Now, when I am over 40 already, I think I have finally embraced cleaning as it is. I am writing right after 3 hours of cleaning doors and doorframes in our apartment. A thing not everybody cleans. It is a specialty for the assiduous. Yes, that must be it, I have finally embraced cleaning. I do not even feel exhausted. I do not think “Oh, what a waste of time.” I actually sense pleasure and accomplishment. This feeling is new to me for I have always hated cleaning. I found it boring at the least and, to some extent, unnecessary at the worst. Today, I am aware that an apartment or a house is in fact...