For my Tuesday ritual (going on 7 years now) I just submitted another “Highland Views” column to the Asheville Citizen-Times.  It will appear in the E-newspaper this Saturday* with the title:

“Facing Our Leopards with the Faith of a Fox”

The Fox is Michael J., the actor-comedian with Parkinson’s disease, drawing a few bites of wisdom from his book No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality. There’s a hint: the “Faith of a Fox” in the title refers to Michael’s optimism.  The Leopard is the wild one he saw up close in Africa, symbol of the fears he faces.

Here’s an excerpt:

“For Michael, the first leopard is Parkinson’s. He can see it and has to deal with it. The second leopard is the fear something is out there in the dark, ready to pounce. The uncertainty of what may be coming next, potentially harmful events. The third leopard is the foggy future, the vulnerability of the path ahead, desperate to find a handhold, some stability: “I pray that I’ll find my way, however unsure I may be of the path.”

*I also post the columns here