I don’t always wear feather boas and fascinators—but when I do I post it to my blog! Welcome! I was hoping you’d stop by! Come on in and sit a spell while we talk about these, those, and the other things that inspire us to be more creative, kind, joyous, relaxed, hopeful, peaceful, and loving…
When we kids were young, we called her Auntie (pronounced “Ain’t-ee”) Myrtle, even though we lived in California and didn’t use a “Southern accent” on any other words. She was my mama’s big sister. Mom was the baby of 3 girls born and raised in rural Arkansas, and Aunt Myrtle was the oldest. The house…
“Shoo, bear!” It was the middle of the night in Yosemite Valley, and my two sisters and I were blissfully snoozing away in our tent-trailer, hoping the raccoons didn’t come again. They had been trying to steal our food and making a mess of our campsite every night. So when we heard rattling and banging…
I’ve known for awhile that I don’t drink enough water. Fact. I don’t dislike water—even though our community water smells and tastes like boiled (some say rotten) eggs, because it has more than its fair share of sulfur. So I actually do dislike our water. The only municipal water I’ve tasted that was worse (though not sulfuric) was in…
When I was a young working mother, I felt like I was busier than everyone else I knew. I was proud of my ability to multitask, but all the things were sometimes overwhelming. You might feel the same way. I had a colleague, though, who helped me realize I wasn’t alone. Every time I bemoaned…
Who here will admit that you watch Hallmark movies on TV? C’mon, raise your hand, and hold your head up high. I know that Hallmark movies are kind of looked down on or ridiculed by many people. But there are those of us who find happily-ever-after stories inspirational, entertaining, comforting, maybe even therapeutic. A good…
DETOUR! Did anyone else besides me just break into that catchy old tune, 🎶“Detour, there’s a muddy road ahead, detour!” No? Well, I grew up with two older sisters and a brother, and our family did a fair bit of Sunday driving (back when Sunday drives were a thing), not to mention driving across the state or…
When I was a kid, my grandparents lived in the San Joaquin Valley in California. Our family of 6 lived in lots of different places while I was growing up. We moved north from the Bay Area to as far as Portland and then west to Nebraska. But we would come to the San Joaquin…
It’s a fun fact that in British English (that seems a rather redundant phrase, but you know what I mean…), the letter Z is pronounced “Zed” rather than “Zee.” I’ve never been able to figure out why they have a whole word for just that one letter. It’s also the only letter in the English…
Are you a morning person? I have a confession—I’m not. Oh, I spent 44 years getting up early for work, but now that I’m retired, early rising is not on my agenda. And I don’t feel real apologetic about that, because I’m most productive in the late evenings. I guess I’m not going to be…
It’s lambing season here in the Central Valley. I love driving out in the country and seeing the lambs frolicking with the flock. There’s something so sweet about those little lamb faces. Sheep in a pasture, especially with those precious lambs, just epitomize the absence of stress, the presence of peace. And peace is part of…