from sun to soil
This post is dedicated to my new friend, Christine. Mahoney Manor Gardens is a perennial source of comfort and joy. This season it has also been a site for sorrow and a container for grief. It never ceases to teach me how to live in the ‘both/and’ of life and remains a mirror, which reflects…
On my commute home, singing duets with Sara Bareilles’ live album at the Hollywood Bowl helped transition from a day at my desk into the unscheduled hours after work. After all these solo years, I can still find myself restless and a little bit panicky: How will I fill the next few hours? It’s a…
This time last year I was in a state. The last time my roommate moved out of my house and into an apartment closer to campus, I’d adopted our dog. This time I joked that I wasn’t “two-dog” missing her—I wasn’t going to adopt another dog—but I was letting myself feel the loss of her…
Wisdom tells me to find joy amidst life’s potholesMy eyes scout out beauty on gray days and land on the daffodils. They do spring’s heavy liftingBringing momentary respite even as the winds bluster and blow them horizontal. Tender stems bend but do not snapGusts of life threaten my stability, so I focus on the sunshine…
Lately I hear the foot traffic of multiple essays promenading my mind’s boulevard. Some crowd in so close they catch my heel and trip me up. I can’t seem to carve out the space to sit down and write—except for my Sunday afternoons at Word Church—sacred time with beloved congregants. I bring my essay ideas…
I don’t want to fill my schedule with activity, but I am discovering in this mid-pandemic landscape, I have too much time on my hands. As a corrective, I put on a green bandana to cover my hair, pull on the stained and holey overalls from college over the t-shirt I slept in and take…
This is a story about how setting a goal can enrich one’s life, and a story about going with the flow and letting life unfold, as it will. Sometime in late 2020, my roommate introduced me to the Poetry Unbound podcast. I think you might like it. I was intrigued since poetry has always been…
One morning in late summer, I went to my garden to snip some zinnias for a bouquet for a friend. On my way back to the house, I stopped by another garden area and did some end-of-year pruning. I love these moments when I combine some maintenance and daydreaming about the next season and what’s…
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