How little the pain ─ In face of huge universe, When atoms take shape.   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 ...

My husband and I live in a small apartment. A so called one-room-apartment. It is so small, we had to close the balcony with walls and windows in order to gain space for my writing corner. That way we cannot sit back and relax on the balcony at summer evenings watching the stars. We also cannot dry washed clothes outside, which would be very practical. Our bathroom is so small, an obese visitor could not enter it. There is also no way stretching your legs, if you sit in the bathtub. The kitchen is so tiny, we could not fit in a standard dish-washer, but bought a narrower one. Luckily I have never felt...

Sipping water drop by drop, The elixir of life will never stop. – A river swells by heavy rain, A flood brings many a pain.   Inhaling, exhaling the air day by day, Oxygen filling one’s lungs all the way. – Hearing heavy winds howling, Protected from falling trees by housing.   From caveman’s fire to our barbecue, Never having raw food to chew. – Firemen rushing like diligent ants, At the scene of the fire in fireproof pants.   The soil feeding us for thousands of years, Early sprouts chasing away winter fears. – A landslide’s menacing roaring, Too late to...

In the old days people used to be afraid in winter that plants will not sprout in spring, so they put up various evergreen plants like spruce, fir or holly in hope they can preserve plant life like that. I am talking about ancient pagan rituals which through Christianity developed to Christmas festivities the way we know them today. Nowadays we do not have fears like that. We take spring for granted. We do not see it as a miracle anymore. Science provides reasonable explanations for the spring phenomenon. And yet, when I saw the first leaves in the forest this spring, when I touched the tender light...

In this era of haste, we often hear the medical recommendation to take smaller bites. And to chew longer. The point is that the mouth is the first stage of digestion. Chewing means that the food gets processed mechanically, but also biochemically by the digestive juice called saliva. If the food is handled correctly in the mouth, the stomach has it easier doing its job. Our stomach handles a lot of stress that is unavoidable these days. Thus there is no need to put more pressure on it. By taking smaller bites we also get full by less food and thus put even less pressure on our digestive system. It...