Early April, 2020 I had a moment of quarantine panic the other day. I was making a loaf of bread, and when I took the top off the little wooden salt cellar that I keep by the stove, I saw that it was almost empty. So I got out the step-stool and reached up on […]
Northern Pygmy Owl
It was lovely; a gift from the universe. Then just as quickly as it began, our little owl flew up and away on silent wings. Z and I have known one another since our early teens, when we met at Camp Namanu on the shores of the Sandy River. Almost every year, we go to […]
Family Mugs
My husband, Rick, keeps telling me we have too many mugs – that they are taking up too much space on our shelves, and I need to get rid of some of them. But which ones? How about this one – my Mama Bear mug? It’s the companion to his Papa Bear mug. Every time […]
Feeding the Fish
Basically, we are all here to learn to share and pass the crayons and not eat the paste. I can remember the name of every kid in my First Grade class, and tell at least one reasonably colorful story about each one … [Read More...]
Planting Bulbs
Daddy died in the quiet of the early morning on the last day of September. I was the last person to see him before he passed away. Before I left his hospital room that last night, while my mom waited out in the hall for me, I … [Read More...]
Ten Minutes in the Mirror
There was a time in my life when I considered it a luxury to stand in front of a mirror for more than five minutes to get ready for my day. I had a handful of young children running around the house back then, and there was … [Read More...]
Dad’s 10 Life Lessons
Dad died over a decade ago from complications related to Parkinson's, and I still miss him every day. I miss his dumb jokes, and how he always started laughing halfway through the telling. I miss his "just one more crescent … [Read More...]
Four Keys to a Long, Happy, Purposeful Life
An International Women's Day Tribute After my father died too soon from Parkinson's complications, my mother's older sister Dorothy Ellen assumed, in no uncertain terms, the mantle of family matriarch. Known to everyone as … [Read More...]
Happy Birthday, John Steinbeck!
I might have left Steinbeck there on the icy linoleum beside an already stone cold Hemingway, had Lennie not died. Were he still with among us, John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. would have turned 118 years old today. The … [Read More...]