Uncategorized – Things I've Learned Along The Way

Books I Read in 2021

I have traveled to Mars, visited the Thames in Victorian England, watched war from the walls of Troy, laughed and cried over love and death in white paper pages with black markings.

I went to North Table Mountain Ecological Preserve this weekend. Before I got there, I felt drained from a busy and emotional week, and I hoped that a walk would help me clear my head. Everywhere I looked, flowers painted the landscape with purples, yellows, whites, pinks and oranges. Poppies spilled down valleys between basaltContinue reading “Wildflower Weekend Wonder”

Favorite Season

I feel slightly guilty for having a favorite season. It feels a little like preferring one child over another. There are aspects of every season that I love — at least for a little while. The flushed heat of summer feels welcome in June, but by September, I’m ready for a change. The first snowContinue reading “Favorite Season”

Wish you were here

On my morning walk today, suspended between a storm front over the Sierras and a bank of gray clouds from the Pacific, I marveled at the sky. I wish you had been here to see the ever-changing landscape of the clouds painted by the wind, the sun slowly seeping over the darkness to the east.Continue reading “Wish you were here”

A moment in time

While I was walking at lunchtime through the UC Davis arboretum, I caught a glimpse of bright red. As I got closer, I could see tiny red flowers on a leggy bush. I stopped. The bush is quince, and its presence in Northern California transported me back a quarter of a century to another place.Continue reading “A moment in time”

Borrowing against joy

A few weeks ago I had a mammogram. It was a six-month follow up to a mammogram that found small calcifications in the breast tissue. Nothing to worry about, the radiologist assured me. It’s just a good idea to check it out of an abundance of caution. Standard protocol and all that. After the test,Continue reading “Borrowing against joy”

A moving experience – dismantling a life

August, 2018: Earlier this year, I helped my mother and stepfather move from a house they had lived in for 20 years into a retirement community. I flew from Florida to Seattle and spent five days taping together cardboard boxes, filling them with possessions, marking them with sharpies and stickers so the movers would knowContinue reading “A moving experience – dismantling a life”

False eyelashes and failure

I do a few things pretty well. I’m a good baker. I’m a good dancer. Occasionally I can turn a good phrase. I crack witty puns — okay, some people might disagree with the with the witty puns. But my point is that I’m skilled in certain areas due to many years of practice. ButContinue reading “False eyelashes and failure”

The Tree

Every now and then when I am outdoors walking down a random path, a branch will catch my eye and remind me of my Tree. I haven’t seen this particular tree in almost 45 years. I remember few things about the catastrophic illness that nearly took my life, and it is possible that the treeContinue reading “The Tree”

My one-word theme for 2019

Explore. It’s my one-word theme for 2019. When I heard on Gretchen Rubin’s podcast, Happier, that she and her sister choose a one-word theme for the year every year, I didn’t think I could do it. How could I choose one word out of all the possibilities across several languages? I’m a word NERD. IContinue reading “My one-word theme for 2019”