A very experienced writer friend told me to set deadlines. And that is something I often leave out when I am writing. I do the work, but let it sit, sometimes for weeks, or worse. I think I could come back to it later and make it better. It could always be better. Who would have thought that I would turn out to be a perfectionist? I am so casual and easygoing about most things, never focusing on making things…
In my youth I NEVER worried about who I might be or what I planned to do with my life. The answer shown like a beacon. Grow up. Leave my father’s house. Become a bride. Move into someone else’s house. Have children. Make sure they were happy and not afraid. Try to make sure they remember their childhood as carefree and loving and just plain fun. That picture of the perfect family grew strong in me. It settled in my…
It is hard to believe how many changes have occurred in the last year. Now I live in Washington DC with my 99 year old Mother. But a year ago I still had a home of my own. I had a dinner party for my 75th birthday in January 2017. I had 34 people for dinner (and only seating for 30) My two wonderful sons in law sat in the library and watched football because there was no room for…
“Oh my! No time to pour my heart out. It overflows already as I go through the leftover possessions, photos, files, clothes, and everything in every drawer of my large house. I am leaving. It is wrenching, but worth it. A new life beckons even though I will be living in my mother’s house and not my own. Even though I have no paying job at the moment. Still, I am elated with the innumerable opportunities available to me!” I…
The good thing is that I write all the time, every day at least a little bit. I read somewhere that people who write should NEVER pay attention to the reaction of their own families to their work. Just write and let the others be damned! However, I have been guilty of this for the last 8 years. It paralyzed my writing when my family reacted with embarrassment about my book Ahead of the Curve.? One of my daughters was…
I began to move a couple of weeks ago, but this is an unusual type of move and so it is taking a lot longer than normal. Perhaps I should mention that I have lived in this house for 9 years and I love it here. I love the area, I love the house, and I wish I could stay. However my mother is 99 years old. She will reach the age of 100 in less than 4 months. She…
Sometimes we suddenly know what to do next. Solutions just come down to us as a message from outside ourselves. Some might say it is divine, others simply point to inspiration from our own inner selves. It really does not matter. The point is to follow when the directions are given. Lately this happened to me as I swam peacefully doing “lengths” all alone one morning. I have been torn lately by my desire to be in my house in…
I am terrified to write this blog post. Why? I write every single day in a journal that I have been keeping since August 2015.? Writing does not scare me and I have a lot to say. Procrastination is probably the reason behind the fear or maybe it is the other way around. The fear is uppermost in my mind. Perhaps it is because I have not written a blog post since almost exactly one year ago. So much has…
The heavy, warm air sits on my body like a heavy blanket. A fog of heat surrounds us no matter what we are doing. Even in the shade the suffocating temperatures feel as if someone just opened a hot oven in our faces. The trees seem to sag, their heavy leaves still in the thick air. Oxygen seems limited and even the birds are still. Swimming pools warm us rather than cooling the body. How did the water heat up…
All of it?s branches reach out.? Stretching skyward, slender or stout, shortened, truncated by man, or extending far from the center, those branches leafed out in June, shade the ground. Within green cooled air, lightly sighing leaf sounds compete with the twitter of? birds who fight for space on the bird feeders placed under the canopy. That tree has anchored the place since 200 years before the birth of my mother. It has a name. The Dumblane Oak. It is…
All of it?s branches reach out.? Stretching skyward, slender or stout, shortened, truncated by man, or extending far from the center, those branches leafed out in June, shade the ground. Within green shaded air, lightly sighing leaf sounds compete with the twitter of? birds who fight for space on the bird feeders placed under the canopy. That tree has anchored the place since 200 years before the birth of my mother. Now, cracks are showing in the bark. New ones,…
My Mother is 98 years old. She is beautiful and cheerful. But things are changing for her as she becomes more frail and less able to participate in the activities that kept her young. For instance she loved to play golf, and she starred at croquet, but her balance is not what it once was and she hates walking as a sport. Dancing was her very favorite. But now her partners are all gone and she, herself fears that loss…
The bulk of what you will read here today is from an email that was sent to me recently. The actual article was written by Sebastian Vilar Rodrigez in 2011, but it is even more relevant today. Printing this is meant to be controversial, but not intended to be mean-spirited to any whose religion is mentioned here. Just think about what it says. Are we better off if women are denied education? I am working with a young woman from…
I think this is a good example of how Obama tries to divide the nation according to “we and they” . He is cherry picking results and leaving out any culpability on the part of Democrats. (or the Whitehouse) Here is the video to watch for yourself: In this little video Obama’s very first point is about how prosperity was NEVER a result of Big Business’ s success. And then he mentions (positively) Henry Ford who was one of the…
In June there is hope and joy and abundance all around us. The green grass, leafed out trees, flowers blooming and the birds and bees flying and buzzing around with renewed energy. Yet the country is caught in the grip of a stagnant growth cycle and not much is moving. In spite of all the beauty surrounding us, the people in this country (USA) are fearful for the future and uncertain about what will happen next. Are we going the…
