The summer of 2013 is too rapidly coming to an end. The blistering 95-degree days of July have faded away during the first few weeks of August into glorious days in a more temperate 80-degree range. Normally it’s in August when we on the U.S. east coast suffer the dog days of summer, but so far this August has been mild and we even had a few crisp nights. We of course have yet to see what late August and …

For six weeks this summer, my wife and I are spend­ing three- to four-day, ex­tend­ed weekends on an idyllic lake 70 miles north of Manhattan.  We have rented a house that sits on a small lake (about three quarters of a mile long and a one quarter of a mile wide). 

When it rains, the lake over­flows the small dam that trans­formed what was a swampy pond into the lake.  The lake then becomes a very small source for …

This summer, for the first time in the 40 years that we have lived in New York City, my wife and I have arranged to spend weekends in “the country.”

While we knew many people who regularly went with their children to a cottage in the Catskills or the Berkshires, three to four hours away, I always marveled at the weekenders’ organizational skills. How did they compress work and household management into five days? When did they do the laundry …

One of the advantages of living in the U.S. north­east is the chance to ex­peri­ence the change of the seasons. This year, the arrival of spring coin­cided with a new medical regimen for me and what has seemed like a rebirth of my own life.

As I described in my April column, this past win­ter was the season of my dis­content. In less than three months, I experienced two bouts of pneu­monia. I was at the hospital at least …

Last year, I emerged from a three-week hospital stay for a stem cell trans­plant in late March.  On the drive home, I almost wept with happi­ness looking at the flowering cherry trees, forsythia bushes, and tulips. Com­pared with the subdued hues of my hospital room, the colors were so glorious and bright.   Spring had come early, and March had been one of the warmest on record.

This year, it has been cool here in the northeast, and spring has been …

So far, 2013 has been a difficult year for me — innumerable visits to the hospital for infusions, blood tests, PET scans, x-rays, consults, two bouts of pneumonia, and unending stomach distress to cap off the experience.

Using my electronic calendar, I counted 13 visits to the hospital over a five-week period, seven of which were all-day affairs.

But hallelujah for broad spectrum antibiotics, which seemed to start working within hours of taking them. And kudos too to an alert …

The last three months have been extraordinarily varied in quality of life for me, reminding me of the title of an old Clint Eastwood movie, “The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.”

My good days have been delightful. On my bad days, I've been challenged by a virus or stomach issues. And on my ugly days, I’ve been beset by fevers, coughs, and even worse stomach issues.

It might be a bit of an exaggeration to describe the initial few …