Hey there. I know, it’s been a while. I have no real excuse, and so won’t offer one. I mean, I could blame a lack of time, but that seems overused. Or, I could claim illness, but that would be a flat lie. I’ve been incredibly blessed in the health department and I’m not about […]
What’s the word?
Every month, I choose a new word to center on. It’s easy. Just select a concept I want to focus on in the coming weeks, write it on my chalkboard to keep it “present” in my mind, and post about this effort occasionally in my reader group. Simple. But recently, things got complicated. It started […]
On Writing Partners
Pyewacket thinks she’s my writing partner. She might be right. She certainly helps with the all-important procrastination segment of my writing process. No writing day would be complete with our obligatory morning conversation. It goes something like this: Me (standing in the door of my office): Are you coming in? Her: …. (pointedly looks out […]
The End & The Beginning
Well, here we are again. December 2019 flowing into January 2020 like water from a cracked cup. Or perhaps like a rain-swollen river overwhelming a dam. Either way, we are probably going to end up wet, tired and maybe irritated. Still, I’ll take the cracked cup if I’m offered a choice. Less chance of drowning […]
All Hallow’s Eve
Halloween, or All Hallow’s Eve as the church would have it, is today. This evening there will be visits from assorted ghosts and goblins as well as the occasional ninja fighter and superhero. All Hallow’s Eve was the Christian church’s answer to Samhain, a pagan festival of equal parts ancestor veneration and rituals designed to […]
Priorities
Over the last decade or so, I’ve become gradually more aware that I am slowly running out of time. Don’t worry, I’m not terminally ill or suicidal. But I am a realist. When I was twenty, I believed that I had “world enough, and time,” as the poet once said. But as I leave the […]
What is Art?
My mother is an artist. Her medium is cloth and her tools are pins and scissors, needles and thread and heart. My husband works in metal. Wheels and wrenches, wires, pliers, manuals and heart. One of our daughters uses paint and canvas, brushes, pastels, oils and heart. Our other daughter is a writer. She uses […]
Enough
Sunday mornings should be peaceful. Calm. Quiet. This past Sunday was the opposite, and as I watch the news reports rolling in, I want to weep and shout my anger in equal measure. You already know what happened. Two gunmen in two different places walked into public areas and opened fire, murdering as many people […]
The Evil Worm
Worry is an evil thing. I don’t say this because worrying will cost you sleep, give you an ulcer, break up your marriage, ruin your health and cause you mental anguish and, eventually, illness. All that is true, but that’s not why I say that worry is evil. Worry is evil because it does all […]
Fault Lines
I have a tendency to wonder about things. In general, this is a helpful habit for a writer. For example, I wonder if corporate America is really scheming to take over our educational system in order to increase profits. (Probably.) I wonder if I’m good at my job. (Possibly, hopefully.) I wonder if the person […]