“list”

As I write this in late September, October looms in the rearview mirror. It becomes more visible as it nears. Both months are my best days of living where I am seated on a runway of the natural world, her change in dress from suits of greens into colorful party clothes of crimson , and burnt orange, and green-apple, yellow, [...]

something in the air

I didn’t need a calendar to tell me that August had ended, and September was here—already—when I took a routine brisk walk recently early one morning. A slight breeze carried just enough humidity to remind me it was still summer, with air that was cooler, driven from pockets in the woods, tapping my shoulders. I thought of what marked this [...]

on quitting

Watching the Nutcracker ballet for the first time from the fourth row of the amphitheater when I was a little girl opened my heart to wanting to be a ballerina. I was so close to the dancers that I could see the details in elegance, their lithe bodies floating with a grace and joy I envied as musical notes took [...]

2023-08-01T16:22:00+00:00August 1, 2023|Categories: aging, home, life balance, memoir, personal narratives, writers, Writing|Tags: , , |

measuring time . . . takes time

July is here, already, and I can’t help but to think that we are halfway through this year. Where did the time go? When I was younger, my elders would tell me, “Just you wait. The older you get, the faster time goes.”  Well, I must be there because I do see time moving quickly. Yet, sometimes it seems it [...]

the memory keeper

Held discreetly between the palms of my hands, or grasped tightly in a clutch of one, I carry my identity in a compact bundle. Small laminated and paper rectangles slide inside into slots. Paper money, unfolded or halved, and a handful of change finds space elsewhere.  We cling to our wallets, identifying who we are in a concentrated capsule—driver's license, [...]

the making of a vision statement

To prepare for speaking publicly about my forthcoming novel, The Wisdom of the Willow, I plugged into a webinar courtesy of a publicist. The speaker talked to an author audience about wisdom, and making heart connections with others when we go out into the world to talk about our books, our writing, our selves. She asked if we had a [...]

when being alone and loneliness intersect

Walking near my home through Harms Woods, or standing in my backyard on a soft winter’s night searching for the moon between the house’s roofline and the big oak’s limbs, or perhaps sitting low in a stuffed chair in the library in a carved out space among tall bookshelves, or even typing this at my desk where I write, I [...]

2023-02-01T15:21:23+00:00February 1, 2023|Categories: childhood, memoir, personal narratives, Writing|Tags: , , , , |

Do you look, or do you observe?

They seemed to gather at once, sparrows and wrens, an occasional cardinal and woodpecker, swooping in to demand space and food. It became customary to watch the birds crowding on only four perches jutting from the tube-shaped feeder, as apparently, we’re on the same schedule for breakfast, lunch, and dinnertimes. I’d notice the flurry of activity, until one time it [...]

pockets of wonder

It’s the season of trees when their leaves, a pallet in shades of green from bright leafy flora to deep woodland, cease their infusion of growth and bleed vibrancy of color seen only in the fall. It’s a time to connect and to explore the wonder of a landscape falling softly to sleep, but not before it brings drama to [...]

from feeling small to being big

I feel small. And it makes me feel imbalanced. Once feeling large and poised over the summer months with the security of sunny days, familiarity of longer lit hours, and the comfort of happy places at beaches and bike-riding, has now morphed into a perspective that is confined and maybe a little off center. I didn’t realize this until after [...]

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