Hal's Blog

Best Friends

Last night I was talking to someone about Theresa, and I said “I married my best friend”.  The person I was talking to noted that she had never heard anyone say that before. *****About a week ago, I learned that someone I know in my profession lost her husband.  This woman and her husband had…

Retirement Finance

I noted in a previous essay that several friends and family members are retiring soon.  How are they financing their retirement? Conventional wisdom is that retirees should have at least three sources of income (the “Three Legged Stool”) if possible.  Those three sources are: But most people nowadays don’t have a pension, so they have…

Thoughts About Retiring

Several of my friends and relatives are retiring in the next couple of years. Two of them have announced their retirement dates in 2023. I wish them good health and prosperity in retirement. They worked all of their lives, and they have a lot to look forward to. I don’t see myself retiring anytime soon.…

The Aging Process

It is April 26, 2021. Tomorrow will be two weeks since I received my second vaccination. I have never been so grateful for a vaccination in my life. I haven’t written for this site for a few weeks. I have had a very good case of Writer’s Block. As that ends, I thought I would…

COVID-19: 500,000 Americans Lost

Today is February 23, 2021. We are at (approximately) one year since COVID-19 came into our collective consciousness in the United States. This week, we reached another grim milestone: 500,000 Americans have died in the past year from COVID. This screenshot from Worldometers.com: I want to take a moment and observe a moment of silence…

COVID: Groundhog Day

Today is February 2, 2021. “Groundhog Day” in the United States. The movie Groundhog Day was released in 1993. In the movie, Bill Murray wakes up to the same situation (on Groundhog Day) over and over again, until he learns an important lesson. Sort of like us. We keep waking up to a pandemic that…

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Letter Openers: More Essays About Life and Love

A compelling collection of essays written in Hal’s unique style. You can hear his voice and feel his personality in every essay about life, love and travel.

“What if the type of pain we are trying to medicate isn’t physical pain? What if the type of pain our society is trying to medicate is spiritual pain? What if opiates can’t scratch the kind of itch that we have?” from Opiates & Pain 

“You might be surprised who is helped the most. It might be me.” from Radical Hospitality

“Where I come from, respect for authority is earned, not granted. Respect for authority is based on trust, and that trust can be lost a lot easier than it can be gained.” from Give Me A Choice

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Can Openers: Essays about Life and Love

A longtime essayist, Ward’s thoughtful, funny treatises and letters have long entertained and enlightened his friends and family—inspiring many to store his missives away as treasures.

In Can Openers, Ward gathers together his best observations on modern society, travel, and the arts; the foibles of family life; and—his own personal quest—his wish to see his long-suffering Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl just once before he dies (which, like many dreams, often seems ethereal and unreachable).

As for subject matter, Ward has plenty available. A world traveler who has visited over thirty-six countries, he’s well equipped to compare cultural norms. His love of rock music has brought him to over four hundred concerts, including performances by the Grateful Dead, Springsteen, and Paul McCartney—experiences he draws on throughout his work.

Ward’s essays have something of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” about them: he strips back the veil to expose the truth—even if that truth sometimes proves embarrassing. His writing reflects his own unlimited sense of wonder at the world coupled with the inevitable exasperation that comes from living in modern times.

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