My husband is off work this week so we are once again in “paint mode.” We have two rooms on the list this go round. First is the future master bedroom. It was slated to be done last time but because we ended up repainting the kitchen we ran out of time and it didn’t get done. It is currently primed and I realized I didn’t have a good “before” picture so this is the listing photo. (The carpet has been taken up and we are still in the process of finishing the floors.) Second is the front parlor. Again … Continue reading Paint Party Part Two

Father’s Day is a complicated holiday for me. It is a day not easily wrapped in a bow and celebrated in front of a backyard grill like the commercials would have you believe. I was fortunate enough to have two dads growing up and an amazing husband who became a dad to my son. Fortunate does not mean easy however, because all men are flawed, but this is not the day for that. This is a day to overlook the unpolished mistakes and celebrate the dads. Wayne, my first Dad. Always impeccably dressed. He taught me to ride horses before … Continue reading Day of the Dads

Welcome to Summer. The Equinox. The Longest Day. In honor of the changing of the seasons, I have once again, changed out my dishes. Summer in the South is a time of heavy, moisture laden air. Of bugs in thick swarms. Of late afternoon thunderstorms and early retreats to the porch. It is a time of restless, sleepless nights when even a sheet is too much weight to bear. A time when old houses creak and groan and sigh and expand. When the dead in the graveyard down the street, awakened by the hum of cicada, readjust their satin pillows, … Continue reading The Longest Day

I know. It is not really a weed but rather a plant I have not yet identified. I feel a connection, a kinship to this weird little flower on this perfectly normal plant. While the rest of the buds stand straight and ridged and tall; all in their place, behaving exactly as expected, this rouge bloom has decided to seek out the shadows instead of the sun. Has decided the sky is too lofty a goal. Has decided to test its vertical limits instead. Has decided that it will makes its own path and way in the world. Has decided … Continue reading Weird Weed

He guards the chewy that he doesn’t really want with every ounce of ferocity in his tiny body. He snaps at the other dog as he pads by on his way to the water bowl. He glares accusingly at the cats who have no interest in his trivial acquisition. He nods off, but wakes with a start at the slightest sound or shift or movement. Immediately on guard against the theft of what belongs to him. His body shakes with anxiety and his growls and rumbles sound like “mine, mine, mine” as he loses sleep and friends and sanity protecting … Continue reading The Land Mine of Mine, Mine, Mine

The plants it seem, on the other side of the fence, have grown weary of their own view. Have grown tired of social distancing. Want to see if things really are better on the other side. Have put into motion a not so secret mission. Have sent spies over the fence to report back on our activity. I spotted them this afternoon, as I too, weary of my own view, pressed my face up to the fence gaps to peer in on them and get a glimpse of their much greener grass. Continue reading Nosy Neighbor

Daylight Savings Time, something we didn’t have in Arizona, is doing a number on me. It is 8:00 pm and looks like it could be 4:00. Dogs are winding down for the evening. Cats are gearing up for the night. I find myself in limbo while the sun staves off the moon causing owls and jays to squabble over the rights to the non darkening sky. Continue reading White Nights

The other night my husband and I were awakened by the sound of screeching tires and a thud. Someone, probably impaired, had taken the corner too quickly, knocked over a stop sign and plowed right into the original 180 year old Glynn Academy schoolhouse that sits across the street from us. Police were quickly on the scene, and from what we could tell, peering through the slats in our shutters, the driver appeared unharmed. We sleepily returned to bed concerned about the wise old building that keeps watch on the corner. I worried about the Grecian columns, the rickety porch, … Continue reading Learn Your Lesson

I pulled into the antique store yesterday on a whim. Weeks of staying in had me needing to be out, so I decided to take a drive. Down backroads, through marshlands and back to the highway. Music playing, windows cracked, third gear sticky as Stella and I struggle to find our groove. But we don’t spend much time in third so we fumble through it on our way to sixth and wide open spaces. It is somewhere between fourth and fifth gear, just before civilization gives way to something more wild, half way through a never ending Tool song, that … Continue reading The Long Forgotten Life of Half Forgotten Things