Feeling off after giving blood, so I leave you with a just a picture tonight…..you fill in the words. Continue reading A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words…..That I Don’t Have Tonight

The ibis are back. I know they may be boring to some, but they fascinate me. I followed them from yard to yard; behind the school and around the temple, where they settled in for a bit. I sat on a low wall watching them as they exhausted the supply of grubs on the near side of the fence. Heads down, they encountered the barrier. Most seemed somewhat confused. Some simply turned back and circled around the yard, covering and recovering the same ground. Some squeezed through the bars, while others tried to find a way around. It only took … Continue reading Follow the Leader

The trees have decided to give into winter. They are dropping their needles and leaves faster than we can keep up. A few nights of hard wind, shaking clumps of Spanish Moss into the mix, and we found ourselves in over our heads and in for a long day. It took almost six hours. And the backyard is still not done…. Raking and sweeping and raking some more. At times, I admit, I wanted to cry. It just seemed so tedious and never ending. The piles, plural, helped. It became a game, to see how many piles I could make. … Continue reading Pile It On

Sometimes, they gaze out of the window. Long after the mailman has made his rounds; on days there are no kids in school, nothing below to catch their attention or hold their stare. On such days, they look up. Feel the weight and warmth of the sun, and the vastness of the Universe. Drift and doze in beams of light, know this is fleeting, know there is more, know they are home. Continue reading Beam Us Up

Tonight, as I connect with family and friends, via Zoom and Google and telephone and email…..there is, among the noise and the hurriedness, a pause, and emptiness. There is an inhale and a reverence. A space held for those who have gone before us. Those who are not here to celebrate with us. There is a moment of silence and a moment of gratitude. An intake of breath that exists before the tears and after the exhale. Then there is only silence…..and the most holy of nights….. Continue reading Silent Night

There is something about an old Victorian at Christmas. During the rest of the year, they stand, some straighter than others, stoic and proud. Wise and haughty. Regal and knowing. With their awkward floor plans and questionable plumbing. Some show their age more than others, under the harsh light of most days. But at Christmas……. At Christmas, with their windows decked with wreaths and holly, their lampposts dressed in bows, they all stand a little taller. A little straighter. They command the eye, demand attention and rule the street, just a little bit more. They come alive with nostalgia and … Continue reading ‘Twas the Day/Night Before Christmas

Sometimes we stand so close to something, that we get caught in a net of details. We see so clearly, the fine lines and boxes, feel comforted and confined all at the same time. In these moments, we know our place, imagine our limits, feel a pulse just below the shoulder blade. Take a step back, until the lines between “Why?” and “Why Not?” Between “What?” and “What If?” smudge and smear and blur together. We step back, until smudges of color become leaves, and leaves become butterflies. We step back, until the picture comes into focus and becomes clear. … Continue reading Blurred Lines

Autumn was not ready to give up the stage. She shook her fist and stomped her feet and dropped leaves onto the lawn freshly raked just a few days ago. Determined to stake her claim and eek out just one more encore; take one more bow, curtsy at the end of one more day. The sun merely laughed from her faraway perch somewhere near the Tropic of Capricorn, allowed Jupiter and Saturn to play, called the light in early, put Autumn to bed and allowed Winter to have her season. Continue reading The Shortest Day of the Longest Year

The rain started in earnest and drew me outside. The church bells started soon after in an attempt to compete. And although I do not belong to the church, I was privy to something the congregation this morning was not; and was the only soul present as the bells performed for an audience of one. And although I long to belong to Nature, she picked up the pace and attempted to drive me inside. In the age old battle of Man vs Nature, there was a moment, almost indistinguishable, when the two seemed to match pitch and fervor and find … Continue reading Harmony