I knew I was having anxiety problems when dawn reminded me of “The Scream.” Sleep has been a battle lately, more of a jerky series of bad-ending dreams. I know it is mostly the news — Trump and coronavirus — especially too late in the day, but I haven’t been able to shake the worries …

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This ship of state — this self-obsessed, rusting hulk of retired newspaperman — steadied the moment I felt the stillness of the coming autumn air. No pain this morning, only a sense of the gentle season ahead. I put out fresh water for scrub jays, finches, titmouses and Texas antelope squirrels, grateful that the rattlesnakes …

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People I used to work with will get a kick out of this: I dreamed I lost my voice in the newsroom. Mid-sentence. Looking down a row of desks at younger reporters and editors before my retirement, questioning without being asked a crowd-count methodology at a political event. Despite some darting of the eyes, they …

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