I wrote this a few years back, but found it today and wanted to share it. This is somewhat reminiscent of my own beloved music teacher though an intervention of this type never occurred. I expect she might have appreciated it if it had.  Len There were 17 cats in Dr. Fredericks’s basement and it…

In this moment I am surrounded by people, birds, and animals They smile at me from the mantle here in my living room They tell me of life in other places and other times Some are from Africa, from Native American tribes, from India Their stances tell me their stories Some war-like, some peaceful One…

I love this group. Their music embodies pretty much everything I love: a little blues, some serious lead guitar, great lyrics, perfectly-pitched voices, and toe-tapping rhythm. They are “an American psychedelic soul band” from Austin, Texas and theyt won their first Grammy in 2020 as Best New Artists. I heard their song “Colors” today and…

I am a great admirer of the Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh who died on January 22, 2022. For years, I have owned his book, Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life and have periodically revisited it. After his death recently, I decided to order several more of his books and…

Yesterday I went with Liz to fill up the propane tanks we use at the orange grove. We took the pickup so we could haul them in the back along with some hay we needed to buy for the alpacas. When we arrived at the propane place, the young man who helped us was tall,…

I have a long fuse, but a hot temper once the fuse runs out. Ask my husband. I am calm and forgiving to a point and then, bam! I move straight to mad and can be (as we say in Texas) pure-D mean. I am working on not being a hothead but it comes somewhat…

I am going to make a list in no particular order of good things that happened in 2021. I served my first term as president of Story Circle Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to women telling their stories. I worked with daughter Liz who is employed as the program director for SCN. I helped Rachael…

Today, I started teaching Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Beloved, in an online class offered by Story Circle Network. This will last for 6 weeks, during which time we’ll not only read the book and explore its themes, but will also look critically at Morrison’s use of literary elements, such as figurative language, symbol, diction,…

Today, I hit a low spot. We had planned all week to return to church today so we could finally get back to “normal” and also be there for the annual parish meeting. But a few days back, Rachael started feeling bad, and then on this past Friday, it was confirmed that she had Covid. We…

I love Greg Patent’s cookbook, Baking in America: Traditional and Contemporary Favorites from the Past 200 Years. I made a recipe for maple date bars with lemon zest just a few days ago, but tomorrow I am going to make the recipe below. Not only does it call for the zest of a whole orange,…