Maybe you’ve done a time study at work. Or you’ve said to yourself, “I’m only going to work on the yard for an hour, then take the kids to the beach.” Or you set a goal to work out a few times a week. Consciously or unconsciously, we often are evaluating the return on investment (ROI) for our time.

TRAVERSE CITY — A sedentary workplace made Valeri McCarthy an active participant in physical therapy.

TRAVERSE CITY — The Our Whole Life (OWL) program offered this fall by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Grand Traverse sure ain’t your mother’s — or your father’s — sex education class.

TRAVERSE CITY — Sue Halsey and her wife, Bonnie, wanted to find a welcoming church when they moved to Kalkaska in 2018.

TRAVERSE CITY — The pain Kim Lautner felt in the early afternoon of March 3 is something she will never forget.

TRAVERSE CITY — While some locals flee the National Cherry Festival, two area churches jumped in with both hands.

Thirty-nine years ago, I saw the play “Whose Life Is It Anyway?” at the Birmingham Theater in suburban Detroit. The play concerns a sculptor with quadriplegia who wants the right to die.

TRAVERSE CITY — The National Cherry Festival isn’t just about eating, it’s also about working it off.

Nothing grabs my attention more than the sound of nothing at all. Not that I have become a hermit, lost my hearing or have forgotten to pay the cable bill; rather I’m becoming a bigger and bigger fan of silence.

BAY VIEW — Even the smallest change has to begin somewhere.

Have you ever noticed that it’s really hard to change? There are a number of reasons for this — your brain gets hardwired, we like habits, we want to predict the future so we stick with what we know — but it’s actually far more simple than these answers given by neuroscience.

FRANKFORT — The Green Team got plants into the ground for the first time last week under a cloudless blue sky.

“Don’t get too excited,” said Elk Rapids Cinema owner Joe Yuchasz.

TRAVERSE CITY — Answer: Grace Community Birth Center, a Traverse City nonprofit working to construct a birth center in Grand Bassin, Haiti.

“Too bad you can't exercise. At least you're a spectator,” said the stranger, a runner, at the recent Bayshore Marathon.

MANCELONA — An Antrim County veteran’s meeting with a mortician to discuss pre-planning funeral arrangements turned into funeral planning for four other men.

According to my wife, I make the world’s best cup of coffee.

SUTTONS BAY — It was fitting that Chris Gee marked an important health milestone earlier this month by releasing live butterflies.

When you see it, you can’t unsee it. It is literally everywhere. I’ll tell you what I’m talking about in a second.

TRAVERSE CITY — His first attempt wasn't a success.

Spring ... the season of possibilities.

TRAVERSE CITY — Open, inviting and accessible.

In our northern Michigan four-season climate pattern, is anything more defining than the closing and opening of our local ice cream stores?

TRAVERSE CITY — Teddy Huff isn’t a “super religious" person but a recent visit to St. Peter’s Basilica, one of the world’s holiest Catholic shrines, made him think about the cultural system in a less abstract way.

Dr. Phil McGraw was adamant with the able-bodied girlfriend of a man with quadriplegia.

TRAVERSE CITY — Losing a combined 46 pounds makes chasing after toddlers an easier job for coworkers Tori Guzinski and Hannah Varenhorst.

“Just remember, nothing good ever happens after 2 o’clock, Rob.”

FRANKFORT — The first step toward physical fitness is often the toughest to take.

My father, Ron, loved toys. He was interested in everything from antiques to the newest electronics, though he primarily collected lead soldiers. He showed me how toys can inform us about our collective history and reconnect us to our childhoods. Mainly, he demonstrated that toys are fun at …

TRAVERSE CITY — An 8,200 mile surgical mission trip requires a lot of planning.