Editor’s Note

In my family’s kitchen hangs an embroidery hoop of cross stitching that reads, “Squash Delight: ‘Best Vegetable Recipe Ever’ — Mrs. D.W. Spurlock.”

As we prepared this special “Top Doctors” issue to go to press, the news reported the death of former surgeon general C. Everett koop, whom I had a chance to meet and photograph at his office at Dartmouth back in 1995 for an article on the future of medicine.

This may sound sappy, but the first publication I ever wrote for was my journal - a handmade newsletter with one subscriber: me. I published every day or so when life was particularly fascinating.

Although I've had the pleasure of staying in many lovely hotels over the years (having a husband in the business), I had never stayed at a Ritz-Carlton. I figured this would be the perfect environment in which to make the pitch.

January is a month of new beginnings, but I experienced one last summer when my son cleaned out our ancient basement while I purged the garage loft that serves as an attic in our home.

Oddly, it was at a church Christmas party in Atlanta, Georgia, that I learned the rules to the Yankee Swap.

Talk about heresy: An article in the november 2012 issue of Reason Magazine is titled "your vote doesn't count: why (almost) everyone should stay home on election day."

A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words.

I'm not what you'd call an oenophile. I usually shop for wine by looking on the ten dollar shelf and seeking out those "$2 off" collar tags. But, like most people, I've had a few memorable encounters with a bottle of wine.

Did you know the word "smile" has no accurate synonyms? There's "Grin," of course, but a grin is usually a reaction to something, and the word suggests some effort on the part of the face. A genuine smile flows from within you. It's a spontaneous phenomenon, as unbidden as a sunrise and natural as a rainbow.