And these, ladies and gents, are some of the daily determinants of my mental acuity. In other words, the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle.

But first, I feel compelled to treat (subject?) you to the last batch of France pictures, specifically of the aptly named Nice and nearby Vence.

So yeah, I do the “Bee” daily, followed of course by Wordle (I’m better at Bee). The Bee takes my cognitive temperature. If I see that I’ve missed too many obvious words on any given day, I worry.

And then there’s the word retrieval issue. I find myself most likely to be at a loss for just the right word or expression (two word phrases and concepts are much more difficult to come up with than single words) when I’m particularly intent on sounding smart. Wait, smart’s not the right word, since this occurs when I’m conversing with a close friend or family member whom I don’t need to impress. I don’t want them to think I’m “losing it” but I often find myself struggling to get any word or concept out, let alone the one that’s the most apt. As a result, I blurt out nothing remotely intelligent or worse, garbled nonsense. At least, that’s how it sounds to me, since in my head I had something else, something coherent in mind. So basically, there’s a longer than usual voyage between brain and mouth. By the time I get around to saying something, it’s almost just filler, but in any case no longer what I wished to express. Ugh.

What’s difficult is distinguishing between what we’re not supposed to call a disease shared by every single one of my friends – aging – and my Parkinson’s. I have not managed to figure out how to do this and I really don’t have time to go to medical school. What I do believe is that my brain seems fuzzier than my neurotypical friends.’ But is it normal aging, the disease or the meds – or some combination thereof – that has addled and slowed my thought processes?

My friends, mostly in their seventies, share this complaint, but I believe deep down that my case is worse. I’m just not all there. Though there is this:

I was chatting with a friend on the phone and we were both trying to come up with the term for a particular school project our kids did when they were little. We went round and round but were having no luck when it suddenly came to me. “Biography chart!” I yelled. “Yes!!!” my friend yelled back. But we both kinda knew that biography chart wasn’t right. Personally, I prefer it to “family tree.”

Recommendations:

The Reboot– a dysfunctional cast reunites in a reboot of their earlier hit sitcom. Lots of fun, especially for fans of Keegan-Michael Key, Rachel Bloom and Johnny Knoxville (I believe he’s someone my kids would know).

Never have I ever – love this series, which follows the travails of awkward teens. The cast and writing (Mindy Kaling!!!!) keep it from becoming hackneyed or saccharine.

Abbott Elementary – This one’s from the teachers’ point of view. Totally charming.

• Andi’s back…and she’s more real than ever
• Bye bye rugs. Hello hospital socks!
• What Fresh Hell is This?
• Keepin’ it real, folks
• I am a Genius. The New York Times Says So.