Today, I picked three objects in the room to include in my story. Looking around, I chose an aqua teapot, a print of Mother Mary and Child, and an electronic keyboard. I set my timer for twenty minutes and started writing. I worked on the piece again this evening. Here is my first draft of…

Today was my last class with a group of women at Story Circle Network who were learning about “Crafting Flash” writing, which is fiction and non-fiction pieces that are 1200 words or fewer. I had nine women in my class over the past five weeks and we’ve covered all the basics of flash plus I…

Ray and I headed to Ojai early today to do some work that had to be attended to. The mountains that are nearby were sprinkled with snow. We arrived at 8 am to find it was 38 degrees. The alpacas and chickens were fine, though the alpacas’ fur looked a bit soggy after all the…

My daughter Sarah and I are going to embark tomorrow on the Blue Zone Challenge from a book by Dan Buettner. This is a 30 Day program to live a bit more like people who live in the Blue Zones, places where people live to be very old while remaining healthy. This is not solely…

It’s been raining all day here in Los Angeles. Not a sprinkle, but rather a hard rain which is very uncharacteristic of this arid climate. There are blizzards up in the mountains and road conditions have been hazardous. Ray and I have stayed home all day and encouraged our kids to be somewhere safe, not…

Today, Rachael and I made this soup and cheesy garlic bread for lunch. It was easy, delicious, and completely satisfying. I am a big enthusiast of the Instant Pot, which I used for this recipe. However, you can easily make this soup on top of the stove. Just saute the vegetables in a deep pan,…

This is the official first day of Lent, which is a time of reflection, discipline, and repentance forty days before Easter Sunday. This time also represents the 40 days that Jesus went into the desert after his baptism and fasted. According to The Book of Common Prayer, which is used in the Episcopal Church, Lent…

I wrote the story below a while back. At that time, I took a deck of alphabet cards (a, b, c, etc.), which I have used in the past when working with younger kids on their reading and writing. I spread the deck out, face up, on the table and quickly formed the following words:…

Over this past summer, I worked with my writing student Ricardo on his essays for dental school. He was referred by his college roommate, Ryan, with whom I’d worked the previous year. With Ricardo’s strong test scores, high GPA, excellent work experience, and exceptional essays he has just let me know that he has been…

Today is my dad’s birthday and I want to spend just a few minutes remembering a few of his favorite colloquialisms that reflected his deep Texas/Southern roots. These phrases also conveyed a particular attitude about life. Everybody who has grown up in the South has heard the expression, “That old dog won’t hunt.” My dad…