Field Notes from a Life

 At the Lifelong Learning Lodge, we honor the art of growing older with intention, curiosity, and calm. Our mission is to support your ongoing pursuit of knowledge, insight, and self-development within a daily rhythm that balances engagement and ease. Here, learning is lifelong, creativity is encouraged, and rest is respected. Our weekly offerings include gentle, body-aware exercise (SeniorShape Fitness, stationary bicycling, walking, and swimming); artistic and creative exploration (sketching, memoir writing and legacy work); and time set aside for reading, reflection, and language study. Outdoor activities—such as walking dogs along the arroyo, container gardening on the patio, or visiting the Charco del Ingenio—invite a deeper connection with the natural world. Occasional community service projects, such as the Arroyo Las Cachinches clean-up, offer additional opportunities for meaningful engagement. Animals are an integral part of life at the Lodge, offering companionship, prese...

The walking path just north of Colonia Guadalupe—where many of us walk our dogs, jog, and enjoy the rhythms of the day—runs along both sides of the Arroyo Las Cachinches. The word cachinches is apparently Mexican slang, the meaning of which I’ve been unable to pin down. DeepL translates it as “jokes,” but it may be closer to “laughing,” which is how the arroyo—turned rushing river—sounds during the rainy season. Arroyo Las Cachinches is part of a vast seasonal watershed that carries water from the hills above San Miguel de Allende, part of the southernmost reaches of the Sierra de Guanajuato, down to the Presa Allende, the Río Laja, and ultimately the Río Lerma. The arroyo is an interesting ecosystem in both the rainy and dry seasons. I walk along it every day and love watching the seasonal changes. You’ve probably noticed the abundance of wild tomatoes growing along the arroyo and in patches beside the walking path. This year, they seem to have spread quite a bit, and it finally dawn...

I just finished reading the autobiography Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov. It’s the only piece of writing of his that I’ve ever read, and I’ve decided not to read any of his fiction, nor the extensive biography by Brian Boyd. I want to enjoy this book simply as a beautifully crafted autobiographical work, apart from the larger context of his life. It stands on its own as the expression of a complex and highly educated mind—a person who lived through the upheavals and horrors of the twentieth century. What passages have stayed with me the most? There are many sections.  One, chapter six, that I just now opened at random, reads, "After making my way through some pine groves and alder scrub I came to the bog. No sooner had my ear caught the hum of diptera around me, the guttural cry of a snipe overhead, the gulping sound of the morass under my foot, than I knew I would find here quite special arctic butterflies, whose pictures, or, still better, non-illustrated descriptions I had ...

In February, Mrinank Sharma, an AI researcher who had been deeply involved in the development and safety evaluation of advanced artificial intelligence systems, resigned from his position. In his resignation letter, Sharma expressed concern that the rapid pace of technological progress was outstripping our collective ability to cultivate the wisdom needed to manage such power responsibly. He warned that society risks falling behind on the moral and philosophical challenges that come with new technologies. That concern is not unreasonable. Many people working close to advanced technology have reached a similar conclusion. What was striking about Sharma’s departure, however, was not the diagnosis but the tone. His statement moved quickly away from the language of engineering, governance, or policy and toward poetry and spiritual reflection, quoting writers such as Rainer Maria Rilke and Mary Oliver. The implication seemed to be that the solution to our technological moment lies not prim...