Red and gold lantana blooms Crab grass prickles bare feet Avocado tree and hazy purple hills - Vista from the hot tub Water warmed by parabolic mirror One of many inventions - Ideas, plans, musings Gadget bursting garage Dreams half-formed, many yet to come - Fragrant cedar chips Dancing branches of eucalyptus shadows Strawberry haven for the grandkids - Cousins, aunties, siblings, clan Catalina Island, saltwater…
Beloved, I see you. Up in the morning with the little one smiling on your shoulders as she rides through the house in the hiking backpack carrier that you wanted for your birthday. You yearn to bring our babies along on your outdoor adventures. The beauty of that desire does not escape me. I see you. Curled up on the couch in the morning light with…
In almost all of the good stories about an adventurer on a quest, that adventurer is supported by a fellowship, a community, a village of those who love this quester and wish to see him or her succeed. Last weekend my village rallied together. My fundraiser dinner went off like a sparkling firecracker. It was a beautiful success. A huge number of people offered to help.…
I found a funny, silly, but also serious article about romantic words in other languages. You can check it out here. It made me do my own pondering about “romantic language” and how there is so much more to love with words that goes beyond expressions of love and affection. I don’t mean this in purely the romantic sense. This can apply to close friendships and…
The downpour struck fast and without warning. The rain streaks looked like steady shoots of water from the sky. On the inside of the house, the rainfall looked like a little 2-year-old who went from happy to distraught in a few minutes. My husband and I were spending the day with my cousin’s family: mommy, daddy, and three kidlets. As parents-to-be, James and I have a…
Today it's my pleasure to introduce you today to Dr. Shay Fabbro. Shay and I met through our publisher and I've grown to love her sense of humor and fun. Shay writes imaginative and heartfelt stuff, and this real-life story is amazing. Sometimes the things we remember about the people we love are the bad things they helped us escape. I love this warm twist on…
I was gasping through the Seattle Marathon when I saw a friendship that drew tears from my eyes. *Clears throat* To be perfectly honest, I didn’t run the full course. My husband and I joined my cousin, the real marathon-runner, at Mile 20 to encourage her. I saw a fifty-year-old man running barefoot, women chatting to keep their minds off the pain, a father and little…
Today I'm pleased to introduce you to my friend, Beth Maxey. I met Beth when we sat down at the same table in an Eastlake cafe and she smiled at me. Beth blesses people with a bright smile wherever she goes. I love that about her. In the writers' group that Beth and I share, we write out our work by hand for half an hour,…
This week, I’ve been noticing a significant increase in my levels of joy and contentment. I sang Take it Easy by the Eagles to my husband this morning to wake him up while Spotify played a karaoke track for me in the background. Things are looking up! A few things that struck me this week: 1. Helping a friend, when it’s something I love to do…
"Now that she's in a relationships, I never see her." Sound familiar? My new post on the touchy topic of friends feeling abandoned after someone gets into a romantic relationship is up on SheKnows. Most of us have felt this pain, from one angle or another, and it sucks. But we often forget that when it's our turn to get all mushy and kissy-face, we do…