Life Right Now (Flowers, Books, and a Few Good Links)
(this post contains affiliate links) *** Is just so full. The peonies are heavy, and ruffled, and scented. I have a jar tumbling with pale pink beauties right at my elbow, and I keep stopping to take deep, deep breaths. Like I'm dying of thirst, and this smell is cool water. The strawberries in the vegetable garden are ripening so quickly I...
Women Who Create (An Interview)
I write about me, my experiences, my own observations. Yet, somehow, I still manage not to tell you very much about myself. Danielle Ayers Jones, writer, photographer, and an all-around lovely woman, is helping to rectify that. Danielle has posted an interview with me as part of her blog series Inspire: Women Who Create. It is, as the title...
What I Saw In The Golden Hour
It is called the Golden Hour or, sometimes, the Magic Hour. Photographers and filmmakers revere it. It rarely, if ever, lasts an hour. Usually it is less, though in the far north in deep winter, it might last all day. It is that period just after sunrise, or, more usually, just before sunset when the light is warm and soft and shadows are long...
This Is Pizza Night, This Is Prayer
In our home, Friday night is for pizza. I imagine that is true for many of you as well. For ten years, we lived in pizza heaven (also known as Chicago.) Late on Friday afternoon, we would decide which neighborhood pizza place was calling our name. Within a few blocks of our apartment we had two long-time pizza restaurants that served...
Five Life-Changing Lessons From The Garden
Lesson One: The weeds come back first. Don’t be discouraged. Start weeding. Keep waiting. And, especially, keep your eyes open. Lesson Two: Even your least-favorite colors are beautiful after a long winter. Neon-yellow forsythia, I’m looking at you. Lesson Three: After a long winter spent with books, it takes time to reacquaint yourself with...
This Is How Dreams Come True
I grew up in Texas. In that place, it is possible to be surprised by spring. A river of bluebonnets might bubble up overnight. A heatwave might suddenly stake its claim on a handful of early February days. Here, among rolling Pennsylvania hills, spring is never a surprise. We wait so long for spring, and its coming is so slow, that no change...