I Lost Myself
I miss my mind, body, and creative self. I lost them on a journey this past year. "How," you ask? My kind, attentive, life-affirming rheumatolotist retired the previous January. We had slipped into gray-haired senior citizenship together. He was diminutive in stature,...
January Gardening in Texas
Most of my garden is planted with perennials except for the vegetables. However, the asparagus and some herbs are also perennials so they're included in this category as well. Therefore, I spend most of my gardening planning with the new seed catalogues coming in and...
Succulent Personality
In the hush of any morning, while the humans in my household are still dreaming, my fur babies and I settle into the corner chair of the study and greet the morning with a cup of jasmine green tea. Today, it just so happens that the garden is resting under a blanket...
Shame, the Negative Imprint
In Psalms 25, the psalmist is eagerly giving God his heart, the source of his shame. He knows without a doubt that the only way he can live a hopeful life is to be taught new ways of seeing good in himself. He relinquishes his heart into the tender arms of God's...
Swiss Chard, My Favorite of Greens
Every year, I promise myself that I will not plant so much swisschard, but it is my favorite winter green. I try not to buy veggies from the store and just eat out of the garden. Currently, the lettuce, spinach, and swisschard are going crazy. Also, all my herbs,...
A Composted Life
I've spent the last couple of weeks around these unseasonably warm holidays pruning, reshaping, and chopping to the ground perennials in my garden. I've shredded fallen dead leaves, chopped up dry twigs, and cut out dead branches. There's been so much hacking,...
New Book Launch: Can I Belong to You
I’m thrilled to launch my latest book, Can I Belong to You, a middle grade children’s book featuring my two cats, one a stray and the other a shelter, as they navigate belonging to and living in their new forever home, Maw and Paw Paw’s backyard, porch, and house.
Old Timey Epiphany
Why the earthworm picture? You'll see! Three "happenings" converged last weekend: dividing and transplanting lilies, kinda watching the world series, and listening/watching utube reels through my earbuds while the baseball game was on. How did they converge? It'll be...
Family Funeral
A family funeral is a funny thing. . . There's the extreme, soul-wrenching sorrow of losing a beloved member juxtaposed with the celebratory stories joyfully shared by close friends and family. We back and forth cried and laughed, wiping away sad and happy tears...
White Corn Salsa
We're well into football season here in Texas, and you know what that means? Football equals tail-gating! For those unitiated into American Football, tail-gaiting is the phenomenon where fans gather before games with cookout and/or picnic type meals served out of the...