Today, I was talking with my daughter Liz about adding a Mission Oak bookshelf to a room she was redecorating. She said, “Oh, maybe I can put the new bookshelf next to the one Dad has already loaned me.” I looked at the bookshelf she referenced and said, in pure antique dealer-speak, “Oh, but the…
A Recipe for a Tasty Fall Soup
Fall is here, and I love nothing more than soup in fall (or any other season, for that matter). Below is a recipe I’ve found for a delicious soup with wild rice and sweet potato in a creamy coconut milk broth. Can’t wait to try this! Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup Description This Cozy Autumn…
Ways to Combat Early Morning Worry Sessions
I have been having trouble sleeping lately. Around 3 am, I wake up, go to the bathroom, then get back in bed only to have my brain start to whir. The whirring might be nice if it were centered on all the wonderful things in my life, but that’s not the case. Instead, I think…
Rest in Peace, Kris Kristofferson
Today, I want to pay homage to Kris Kristofferson’s talent for songwriting. I also thought his voice was better than many thought it was. It was distinctive, which I found interesting. He has lots of songs I like, but “Me and Bobby Mcgee” is one of my favorites. Of course, Janis Joplin’s rendition is the…
Prompt: Write About a Piece of Clothing You Wore at a Pivotal Moment in Your Life
On the first day of work on my first job out of my Master’s in Counseling program in 1977, I wore a taupe 3-piece suit, carried a burgundy clutch purse, and sported burgundy high heels. I had gone to Dallas with the woman who helped me get that job, the mother of a childhood friend,…
Dedicate Yourself: A Poem for My Grandchildren
Dedicate yourself to something bigger Stretch and growPush past your limitations Move into the unknownTrust your instinctsDedicate yourself to a passion, a cause, a beliefOpen up your worldMeet like-minded peoplePursue what is healthy and good for youEncourage others to do what is good for themDedicate yourself to pushing back fearStand strong and braveWalk forward with…
Prompt: Open the Drawer
Today, I’m going to write from a prompt I found in the Observation Deck: A Tool Kit for Writers by Naomi Epel. This tool kit is comprised of a 160-page book with short chapters filled with writing advice, which also corresponds to a 50-card deck. Chapter titles include Change Your Point of View, Follow the…
Checking In: Sorry for the Silence
Hi all, I am not dead, I promise. I realize that I fell off the edge of the earth (it is flat, right?), and it may have appeared that I was either sick or sad or wandering down a country road with no clue of who I was or where I was going. (That last…
A Poem: The Ancient Oak
At first glance, the ancient oak seems overburdenedIts limbs stretch up to the sky and down to the earthSome boughs even resting on the ground Like an octopus’s tentacles, they stand poisedAs if ready to lumber across an ocean floorThe gnarled trunk resembles a short, squat towerWide enough for an adventurous hobbit to walk inside…
Flash Memoir: The Day My Life Changed
In 1984, I returned to college. I already had a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology but wanted to deepen my education in literature, so I was exploring getting a second Master’s in Comparative Literature. I took a class in writing nonfiction, which was taught by a professor who normally taught Chaucer. She explained to us…
20 Minutes a Day 