President’s Day? Or is it Presidents’ Day? Presidents Day? Washington and Lincoln Day? In case readers think I can’t decide, I’m only listing the variations I discovered while researching the third Monday in February. According to different sources George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are the most well remembered and most celebrated leaders of our nation. […]
A Special Valentine’s Day Gift
Results of a recent survey show that sales of Valentine’s Day sentiments, chocolate, and flowers are down. The average spent used to be $160, but according to the survey revenue has dropped almost 75%. Hmmm. I have no way of checking those statistics and because this news made for a lead story in a television […]
A Taxing Opportunity
February has opened its sleepy eyes and stretched, playing the role of leader as we head through winter to spring. As in flowers, birdsong, and taxes. Taxes? Yes. I’ve been busy gathering my receipts this week, preparing to meet with my tax consultant soon. Though this is not a job I relish, it has to […]
Playing Possum
This tale started with a stray cat and a man who can’t abide any animal going hungry. When a ragged old tom looking like a cross between a barn owl and a raccoon appeared on our doorstep, my husband’s answer to the cat’s problems was feed it. Which means the cat stuck around for more. […]
Skin Color
This week our nation will pause and honor the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr., a civil rights activist who was assassinated in 1968. The day commemorates his birthday and remembers his work trying to move the nation closer to a unified racial front. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I wasn’t exposed to the […]
That Voice
Have you ever had one of those days? You know the ones I mean. The day begins with a snafu that you want to fix, but attempts to do so lead to more delays and roadblocks. Followed by more snafus, delays, and roadblocks. I had one of those this week. I pay the bills for […]
Returning the Favor
This week I had the privilege of gifting a copy of my second novel, Love Calls Her Home, to a person who had contributed personal insights into the foster parenting system, information I incorporated into the novel. The facts I gained from her I used to track the journey of the young boy in the […]
2019–Friend or Foe
Like many of you, I can’t believe another year is upon us. Within a handful of days, 2019 will utter the first wails of existence. Like a newborn baby in its mother’s arms, the new year arrives with a clean slate full of promise. Whatever events await us will unfold like a toddler learning to […]
Mary Still Knows
I first heard the Christmas song, Mary, Did You Know?, when my infant son was six months old. I was moved by the words of the songwriter when he asked “When you kissed your little baby, you kissed the face of God?” Like all new mothers I remembered the overwhelming awe of staring into the face […]
A Blip on the Radar
Discouragement colored my husband’s face as he came through the door and dropped the car keys on the hall tree. “I just had a fender bender.” Shocked, I asked the obvious. “Are you all right?” Nothing like this had happened in our forty-three years of marriage. But he’d had a rough Thanksgiving week. His only […]