Although the sun hadn’t yet risen at 6:00 this morning, there was enough light for me to see the back patio through the sliding glass door. It was wet. I couldn’t detect any rain coming down, so when I stepped outside with my little dog, I was surprised to feel the soft drizzle on my … Continue reading Wet Paws and Morning Magic: Walking in the Rain
Art
Footsteps Through Time: A London Diary of Discovery and Dust
September 21-22, 2019: Traveling After my flight from California landed in Salt Lake City, I had a 2-1/2 hour layover. Then I boarded the red-eye to Heathrow. We arrived about 11:00 a.m. on the 22nd. Jet-lagged and bleary-eyed, I checked into my Bloomsbury hotel—too drained for more than a foggy scout for supper. I had … Continue reading Footsteps Through Time: A London Diary of Discovery and Dust
Finding Inspiration in Simplicity
When I was in college, my course load was just shy of full time, but my schedule was intense. I had a part-time job, studied martial arts, played the guitar, and was dating. After a couple of semesters of earning one B for every A, I realized something had to give. As much as I … Continue reading Finding Inspiration in Simplicity
Too Clever: Art, Memories, and Life’s Surprises
Something happened during my 17th summer that was not on my bingo card. I already knew better than to trust my mother’s judgment, but I wasn’t yet even dimly cognizant of how much growing up I needed to do, before I could safely rely upon my own. I had been away since I graduated from … Continue reading Too Clever: Art, Memories, and Life’s Surprises
Life and Legacy
What is a legacy? If you look to the dictionary for an answer, the first definition that pops up is money or property left to someone in a will. The second definition is somewhat abstract, but it is the more interesting one. A legacy is something we inherit from a predecessor. In this second scenario, … Continue reading Life and Legacy
The Housewarming Gift
My house had only been on the market for a few days, when my realtor called and told me we had received multiple offers. A couple of them were over the asking price, and he made a recommendation that I accept one in particular. Before we had listed the property, I had done a thorough … Continue reading The Housewarming Gift
The Unforgotten
After I finished writing the manuscript for my first novel, A Moon Garden, I found myself in the unaccustomed state of having free time. One morning, I sat down at the computer and did a web search, to see if I could find a portrait of an aristocratic British soldier from the 1780’s, who looked … Continue reading The Unforgotten
Then and Again
“Turn right on Highway 20, and go about a half mile. When you come to the Taco Bell, take a left.” My co-worker may as well have given me directions to Mars. What was she talking about? Taco Bell? Did our town have a Taco Bell? Although I had lived here for a couple of … Continue reading Then and Again
The Mandala
The temperature was forecast to rise to 104℉. I can tolerate heat better than my dog, but I have my limits too. We set out for our walk earlier than usual, while the sun was low on the horizon, and a Delta breeze was still having its cooling effect in the valley. A patch of … Continue reading The Mandala
A Time and a Place
“Maybe she doesn’t speak English,” said a short, chubby, middle-aged woman. “Or maybe she’s deaf,” her friend observed. “Hello? Hello? Can you understand me?” shouted the first woman. I was just coming to the statue of Charles James Fox at the north end of Bloomsbury Square, when I stopped and turned my head to the … Continue reading A Time and a Place