Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald is a larger than life story, a convoluted tale of family secrets and lies. At least three times in the novel the action occurs in clumps, and over the course of a few days or even a single night, there is more family melodrama than all of Shakespeare’s … Continue reading Fall On Your Knees, a book review
I had something else laid out and ready to go this week, but coming up on the Independence Day Holiday, I felt a need to say something more. When friends ask how I am lately, I say cheerfully that I have my ups and downs. But this past week, after news of the Russians … Continue reading Pray For Our Country
Greetings! If you’re a regular reader, you know the past two weeks I’ve suggested some prayers that I’ve found helpful, and I continue to encourage everyone to write prayers and affirmations too. It’s funny, because almost as soon as the first post went up, I began to feel kind of down. And so I felt … Continue reading Continued Sheltering, part three
I hope summer has been a time of rest, relaxation and fun for you and your loved ones. I suggest we carry that spirit of renewal with us, even as the days grow shorter. With that in mind, click below for a few moments of redemption. If the image is tiny, just click on it, … Continue reading Happy Labor Day Weekend
Thirty-something years ago, I was hiking with friends in the Marin Headlands when we came across a cyclone fence enclosing a small yard. Inside the yard were two or three Doughboy-like pools with seals and sea lions in them. Some friendly signs explained that this was the yard of the Marine Mammal Center, a non-profit … Continue reading The Marine Mammal Center
This is a re-run from the early days of this blog, but still topical and seasonal. Enjoy! I pledge allegiance to this sand and gravel road that runs between the river and my house, clumps of California poppies rangy stalks of fragrant fennel burgeoning fig trees that grow wild on the river bank. I pledge … Continue reading Happy Birthday, USA
Every summer I go in search of a book I can fall in love with. A book that will capture my imagination with poetic language, fascinating characters, and a compelling story. A book I can’t put down. As the weather warmed, and I became too lazy to get off the couch, the first book I … Continue reading Summer Reading: a few cryptic reviews (no spoilers!)
In early June comes a five-day period when every peach on the tree arrives at a perfect skin-splitting ripeness and you race the birds rushing into the back yard with a blue plastic bucket. You drag the six-foot aluminum ladder from the garage climb tenuously and reach for each round fuzzy piece of fruit with … Continue reading In Celebration of the Solstice: Abundance
Written with my Thursday night group with the prompts: garbage day is his marker in time (yes, that really was the prompt!), still making that noise, a perfect summer day, lost in the moment, and she lets me know she cares for me when she sinks her teeth in my ankle (that last phrase may … Continue reading Just Like Romeo and Juliet
In September, when summer lingers in the valley, the sky hovers low and dusky over the city. Few brave the hot pavement. Children hide in curtained bedrooms gazing at flickering screens, grown-ups sequester themselves in air-conditioned boxes apartments, offices, sedans. No one sees Saint Francis arising from concrete statuary, the Virgin of Guadalupe stepping out … Continue reading When Summer Lingers
