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By ALLEN WOODS

In the midst of a holiday season, when giving thanks and giving gifts focus our thoughts, how do we walk upright, maintaining a semblance of balance, through a decidedly broken world? It’s been a question for me ever since my personal world was broken...

By ALLEN WOODS

Here’s a gift — a weekend we generally consider the end of summer, and a paid day off (for some) from the workplace. Most of us will take a short trip, indulge in a hobby, or simply laze about without even considering the day’s original intent:...

By ALLEN WOODS

As I was stumbling and grousing through a seemingly endless series of rainy days recently, I happened upon the cover of a book titled “Cheerfulness.” It features a blue sky and a young woman with a cluster of multicolored balloons in the foreground.My...

By ALLEN WOODS

A 1963 Broadway musical provided a catchy tune that could serve as an anthem for parents and elders today, and probably going back to those dwelling in caves: “Kids! . . . Why can’t they be like we were, perfect in every way?” Armed with hazy memories...

By ALLEN WOODS

Memorial Day always immerses me in a pool of mixed feelings, like those inspired by the national anthem soon after the Vietnam War. Then, the song was used as a club in the culture war, which boiled down the complex issues surrounding the war into the...

By ALLEN WOODS

An online article for MacMillan dictionaries notes that many new words “enter and leave the language as the years go by, a direct reflection of the preoccupations of society in any particular era.” My reaction to the Dominion defamation suit against...

By ALLEN WOODS

“Kathy, I’m lost,” I said, though I knew she was sleepingI’m empty and aching and I don’t know whyCounting the cars on the New Jersey TurnpikeThey’ve all come to look for America“America,” Paul Simon, 1968The idea of “searching for America” began soon...

By ALLEN WOODS

The images are tragic for anyone with a bit of empathy: three women and three children, including a 1-year-old baby, die in a desperate attempt to flee a homeland filled with violence and instability. The country they had hoped to reach did not want...