The Only Investment That Never Fails

And the week that wasn't

The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men,

Go oft awry… -Robert Burns

I had a new recipe I wanted to finish testing for my substack this week, but as Robert Burns explained to the wee timorous beastie in his poem, sometimes things don’t go the way you planned.

Unfortunately, a large timorous beastie tossed my horse-riding daugh and landed her in the hospital. After much worry, experience of trauma hospitals (Do you know where your nearest one is? Pause now and look it up.), and days in hospital, she appears to be on the mend.

So, I apologize for not having a *real* post, the type you all so kindly subscribe to, but believe me, I would have much preferred to have been recipe testing in my kitchen. As, not doubt, my daughter, who was supposed to compete at IHSA Nationals in a few weeks, would prefer.

There were positives from this week, and at the risk of sounding like Mr. Rogers and his enjoinder to “look for the helpers,” while the news delivered so many stories this week of willful cruelty and stupidity, inside the coffee ice cream-colored walls of Baystate Medical Center, we were immersed in a world of kindness and care. From Susan, the dietician who made sure my daugh had meals she liked, to the nurses (Adam, Haley, Tanya, and everyone whose special-ness I remember, but whose name I forget) who reassured while providing expert round-the-clock care, to my daugh’s incredible friends and coaches who ensured her safety and surrounded her with love, it was a reminder of how much goodness is the norm of our daily lives. And, as daffy as this sounds, what a pleasure to be immersed in a world where real science and scientific research was king and queen of decision making.

The reality of Washington DC did creep in, however. All the hospital signs were in English and Spanish, and I thought how many people would suffer needless if anti-DEI wokeness (yes, let’s call it what it is) took that away. On each floor there were posters that explained your legal right to Medicaid, and I wondered how long it would be until those might be taken down.

(And yes, the ER did feel similar to “The Pitt,” down to a man on a gurney in the hallway, asking for a sandwich. Although no Noah Wyle with his adorable eye crinkles…)

So, no, it wasn’t the week we’d planned for, but the circumstances offered an important reset from the onslaught of news.

I’ll leave the last words for today’s Substack to the prescient Henry David Thoreau:

“Goodness is the only investment that never fails.” (Walden)

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Did you experience any kindnesses this week? Do you have a shout-out or suggestion of a place you seek out when looking for distraction and goodness? Self-care counts!