We were at the local diner. Seated in a booth by the window overlooking the stairs leading up to the front door. A perfect perch to view those coming and going. I noticed the couple as they walked carefully from their car to the stairs. They were elderly. As he reached to hold her hand and help her toward the stairs, it was with the tenderness of their first touch -- so many years ago.

I am by no means a hard core political junkie. In fact, I pay little attention to the presidential candidates until maybe 3 months out. I don't watch the news. I don't read the paper. I do get something called "The Skimm" which is a great news summary with a sense of humor, about a page long Monday thru Friday. Highly recommend it. (http://www.theskimm.com/?r=a115abbd) And I am fairly active on Social Media, especially Facebook, so things creep through.

Everyone in my family is a fan, perhaps too big a fan, of the snooze button. Perhaps it is inherited. The problem makes me very aware of potential technological solutions.

  As I wrote about last week, I am a horrible patient. While I am very conscientious about going for my annual check-ups with my internist and gynecologist as well as my annual mammography, I rarely follow up with anything else. I am sharing my recent experience in the hope that, perhaps, I help someone else.  

Eve is in Puerto Rico. We facetimed yesterday. She was standing on the beach in the ocean with some kind of colorful cocktail, me in over a foot of snow with a beer. My plans to go to Brooklyn and then to see a movie were snuffed out.  

1 inch of snow in D.C. compares with 6 inches here in NY which compare with 3 feet in Buffalo.   Having lived in Buffalo for 4 years and experienced a winter storm where 192" fell, the one passing through our area today that they've named Jonas, in my mind, is cute. By my estimation we'll get around 6-10 inches. Not a big deal for me.  

Last week we visited Cuba for 6 days.  It was my first visit, but back in the day my Damon Runyon character dad was a frequent gambling visitor to Havana and was on the last flight out in the final moments of Castro's revolution.

It started with a little tickle... (or was it a little scratch?) in my throat. Ignore it. Within an hour, there was no denying. It was my winter cold 2016.