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Treat Everyone Like Their Heart Is Breaking
We never know what someone else is going through, or living with, or coming from. A smile or a kind word can mean the world, just as a snide remark or raised voice can be crushing. This is not to say...
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How to Say No, Politely
When it comes to the most important words in the language, right up there with Thank You, I Love You, Please, and Dinner is Served… is No. You already know this, but we all (maybe especially us girls)...
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The Easter Bear
Have you ever. Can you pick me? I pretty much look the same. Same fat cheeks, little nose, and big mouth. Why is my hair sticking out on the sides like that? Did my mama do that on purpose? Was I going...
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The Joys of Moving in New York – Part 1
Forgive me, readers, for I have moved. It’s been seven days since my last post. Twelve years since my last move. You understand. In case you missed Time to Move, you can see it here. Here I am on...
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You Gotta Love The New York Post
Early this morning tenants of a posh Fifth Avenue building complained of a loud snorting noise emitting from the 21st floor, fearful that possibly a large farm animal had got loose, or worse, been...
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Calgon Take Me Away… a View From Rancho La Zaca –
Do y’all remember the commercial of the harried Everywoman who longed for relief, preferably in a bath of warm, fluffy bubbles created by Calgon soap powder? “Calgon Take Me Away!” she’d say, and...
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What We Can Do About Boston
A dear friend sent me this gift from his garden in the mountains of North Carolina. It came at the perfect time, a reminder of good and of God in the world. Thank you, James. James's daffodils from...
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The Joys of Moving in New York – Part 2
Ah the Joys of Moving continue. (If you missed the riveting Part 1, it is here.) It has been a few weeks now, albeit with a weekend in Chicago (love Chicago and that beautiful Lake Forest) and last...
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Baby Birds Leave the Nest
We’ve had an abundance of birds nesting around the house at Rancho La Zaca this year, and birds’ nests fascinate me. Here’s one we found up in the side porch. It hasn’t hatched yet… Bird nest at Rancho...
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Sidney Poitier Sums Up the Meaning of Life
Do you watch CBS Sunday Morning? It is the best thing on television, beating out even Downton Abbey in my book, though that’s not exactly an even comparison. Last Sunday morning I had it on while I was...
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Southerners and the N-Word, for the Record, Y’all
This is not to pile on Paula Deen whose public excoriation for using the N-word has been well covered, but to clarify something about Southerners and the N-word in general. Paula Deen, via...
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Letter From the Loire – Part 2 Coming Up. Meanwhile… a Highlight
Visiting this marvelously whimsical folly (is that redundant?)–the Pagode de Chanteloupe– was a highlight of a recent, sometimes rainy, romp through the Loire Valley of France. Here is Part 1, in case...
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What a Month! Part 1: CityKids Storm the Ranch!
Whew. And you wonder why I haven’t posted more. (Or maybe not.) And I wonder why I still haven’t finished my book. Here’s the answer. It starts with a rodeo. Rodeo bull rider August 4: Yup, when I...
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What a Month! Part 2-Santa Fe, Stomach Bug, SWAT Team, Quick Draw, La-La Land
Like I was saying, August posts have been a little light because August days have been a little busy… Part 1 here, and Part 2 here… What I want to know is what happened to the “lazy days of summer”? Am...
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The Silver Lining of Breast Cancer? One Woman’s Journey Inspires (and...
How happy I am to tell you about The Silver Lining by Hollye Jacobs, who has been a huge silver lining in my own life and in the lives of thousands she touches every day. I mean, wow. If your life has...
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A Symphony for the Soul, in the Autumn Light
New York Skyline in November For several days now–spurred perhaps by the frantic-but-I-love-it pace of autumn in New York and the prospect of the holidays that the shop windows are already putting upon...
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Thanksgiving Puzzle Giveaway!
Here’s something fun everybody can do at Thanksgiving that does not involve a football, a television, a parade float, a stick of butter or even an iPad. Seriously! Okay not that seriously, because...
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Hit the Pause Button – via The Silver Pen
You all know how I love The Silver Pen blog and its author Hollye Jacobs. You also know how important it is to “hit the pause button” now and then. And yet. I know, I know. But please read Hollye’s...
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Nelson Mandela, Johnny Clegg, and a Music Hall in Jo’burg 1988
The morning after Nelson Mandela died, NPR’s Renee Montagne interviewed a white South African named Johnny Clegg, whose music I’ve listened to and loved since I saw him perform in Johannesburg in...
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Sky-High Resolutions
May you reach for the sky in this New Year, knowing there are many different skies and knowing that the sky can change. This year I’m going to trust that whatever sky I’m in is where I am supposed to...
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