Welcome to the Commune podcast.

This is Jeff Krasno.

Many of you may receive my weekly Sunday commusing article, where I address a breadth of issues

from the spiritual to the sociopolitical.

And on occasion, I will also record an audio version of these articles and release it

here as a bonus episode. If you'd like to receive my weekly article, sign up at onecommun.com,

and you can follow my regular exhortations on Instagram at Jeff Grasnow. So without further delay, here's this week's commusing titled Everything in Moderation.

I've been with Skyler for 34 years, and she's been with me for 32.

This threadbare joke has been a dinner party staple for decades. Now, there is a kernel of truth to this old yarn. You see, I considered us an item a good long while before Skyler did, and we dated for two years prior to

indulging in any pleasures of the flesh. We visited each other's families for holidays, we smooched a bit,

we even shared a bed, but there were no visas issued to travel south of the border.

A chivalry wasn't quite dead yet in the late 80s, and Skyther was hell-bent, or in this case

heaven-bent, on retaining her chastity until

completing 20 solar orbits. With Job-like fealty and only minor extracurricular dalliances,

I suffered through my late teens with the bluest of balls. I began to refer to Skyler's private area

as the kingdom of God, not just for its sacredness, but because there was more chance of a camel

passing through the eye of a needle than a rich man entering therein, Matthew, 1924.

More than once, I questioned why a self-identified libertine had fallen for such a Puritan,

but of course, you never fall on purpose.

I endured this imposed monasticism stoically.

On occasion, I donned my Boston College sweatshirt,

colored saffron and maroon, and prostrated before her like a samnassin. But otherwise,

...