My brave son nearly became the victim of a homicide attempt in the local Pacific Beach area recently. (It was kept out of the paper.)

Though over 50, but trim and in good shape, Craig went to the rescue of an unknown young woman being beaten by a druggie in an alley.

While taking a walk around the block during an evening church meeting-break, Craig spotted this low-life character beating a young lady beside a car in the alley.  Without consideration of the possible consequences or harm to himself, he went to her rescue. (more…)

I owe a good part of my longevity and excellent health to water exercise.

At 80, I still swim twice a week in a pool.  (I gave up ocean body-surfing years ago due to pollution at nearby San Diego beaches!)

To me, there’s no better way to work the kinks out my aging body than in a swimming pool.  I’ve been using water religiously for part of my exercise routine since I was about seven.

I literally “swam” my way to health after a several operations for osteomyelitis, which left me in braces and cast at the age of five.  This chronic bone infection proved to be fatal to nearly 75 percent of patients in the ’30s - before “wonder drugs.” (more…)

Friends and relatives in Alabama, Florida, Arkansas and North Carolina had to batten down the hatches and get out the rubber boots during recent visits by hurricanes Gustav and Hanna.

A friend in Mobile lost the front porch of a beach house which had just been re-built after being destroyed by Katrina. My brother in a new Arkansas retirement community had a drenching 7.5 inches of rain in a day.

I couldn’t help drawing a mental comparison to the arid summer we experienced this year in Southern California. San Diego, for example, must have had all of about .10 of an inch of moisture this summer (and been drenched by about 1.7 inches to date for the year!) (more…)