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I recently I gave a webinar for the Lehigh Valley Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).  The subject was the Pont du Gard, which is a bridge carrying a portion of the Nimes Aqueduct across the Gardon River in France.  I’ve been fascinated by the Pont du Gard ever since my husband Joe and I took a Viking River Cruise on the Rhone River in France in October 2019.  This was our third cruise with Viking.  We’ve forged some solid friendships, including couples from New Jersey, Scotland, and Australia.  I invited all of them to join me; they did, even though it was tea time in Scotland and the middle of the night in Australia.

The thing about the Pont du Gard is that it was built by the Romans during the First Century A.D.  And it’s still standing!  AAANNNDDD they designed and built it without slide rules or GPS!

Photo:  National Cancer Institute (www.unsplash.com) My sister inspired me (again) to share my thoughts.  A few Sundays ago, Pat delivered the sermon at her church.  Her theme was “When Things Fall Apart”.  It’s taken me a long time to internalize…

Work Is Love Made Visible For years, I’ve had a hot pink sticky note under the clear protector on my desk. It says, “Work is love made visible”. I don’t remember where I saw it, but it struck a chord, so I…

Why Sweat It? What is “eccrine” and why should we care about it? The eccrine glands are sweat glands found widely distributed on our skin. Without our eccrine glands, we wouldn’t be humans! Let me repeat: Without our eccrine glands,…

My sister Pat asked me to send her a newsletter I wrote in 2009 in celebration of Earth Day. She’s doing a reading for the Earth Day service at her church (virtually of course). I'd forgotten all about the newsletter.…

Shelter-in-place is even more stressful for some of us than COVID-19 itself. I really didn’t want to expose you to one more article about the corona virus, but here’s something to chew on if you’re going nuts at home and desperately want to be around your co-workers, family, and friends. Could it be that this uncertain time is especially difficult for you because you’re an Extravert? Don’t worry. It’s in your nature.

How to Meditate (or at least How I Meditate) I’ve heard people say they don’t meditate because they can’t turn off their racing mind, or they can’t sit still. Think about it: The whole point (I think) of meditation is…

The Janus Questions Last year around this time, my colleague Anna Sicalides shared a very powerful tool in her newsletter.  She listed 12 questions to help us reflect on 2018 and then plan for 2019.  I call them “The Janus…

My friend and colleague Marc Warren and I have been working with engineering firms for many years.  Something that puzzles us is the term “client service”.  It means too many things to too many people.  And unfortunately, many people put…