Many of you know that I find great pleasure in feeding, watching, and photographing the birds from my photo fort Jon bought me for my birthday. When this guy, the red-bellied woodpecker, first came to the feeders, he was vocal while he flew back and forth over my enclosure. I giggled from inside when his wing sometimes brushed the…
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I was in my photo fort hoping for a stellar picture. It was cold, but the shiver in my heart wasn’t from the wind. A recent hurt rumbled around in my mind. Sitting there, I questioned myself and the calling I had been so sure of and now doubted. I wanted to hide and take my purpose in life with…
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A few years ago, I was on a solo writing retreat in a local Minnesota river town when this series was born in my heart. Although I spent most of my time away writing in my hotel room, one morning I walked down the street to the local coffee shop. With my hot dark roast in hand, I fired up…
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When I was little, people told me I was precocious. Funny. Silly. Stubborn. Beautiful. Plain. A chatterbox. Naughty. Boisterous. Sweet. Loud. Stupid. Smart. Talented. Average. Quiet. Tender. Brash. Shy. Bold. Odd. Average. Normal. Bright. Ordinary. Extraordinary. Full of sparkle. Boring. Dependent. Independent. Graceful. Clumsy. Sometimes these opposing views came from different people on the same days. Being a literal kind…
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The poetry has been gone from my heart for awhile now. I missed it, but couldn’t force the words to come. I waited and sometimes prayed because it felt like part of me had been erased. Then, while walking in the wildflower garden I saw beauty where I might not have before. And the words damsels in distress whispered across my heart….
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This summer has been a walking, wandering, and wondering time. Sometimes I walked our land and other times I went to Silver Lake in Rochester, MN. A place I’ve gone my whole life to play, feed the geese, pray, daydream, and walk. I love the sounds of children playing, young mothers talking, and the noises the giant Canada geese, the…
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For me, walking is more than exercise. It’s one way I spend time with my dogs, fit in my love of photography, and because I’m a slow walker, taking steps is a pondering time. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been fascinated by leaf landings. Really fascinated. I love fall and especially leaves, but this was more than that….
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“Old age is no place for sissies.” Bette Davis The day was lovely and the gold of Fall was on the leaves and in the air. I felt like twirling, but thanks to an abundant mole population in our yard and recent gallbladder surgery, I resisted. The older I get the more safety matters. Still, I was delighted by the beauty…
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“Sometimes, life’s hurts feel like a cacophony of chance and circumstance and chaos. But when we look closer, we see it’s so much more beautiful than that.” From my journal. Not long ago, Jon and I were talking over a misunderstanding that troubled us greatly. It was one of those times that required a hard response from us – something…
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On December 7, 1959, I added a role to my princess life – I became a big sister. I was two and excited to have a real baby coming to live at our house. My brother Jon is the first baby I held and the first one I loved. He was mine. Mama and Daddy said so. My brother. My…
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In warm weather, I spend a lot of time outside. The songs of the birds, the whisper of the wind, and beauty of the woods and wildflowers seem to be inviting me to come out to play. And most of the time, I go. The other day while riding our land with the dogs, I looked up at the blue…
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