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Gifts from the Heart

At my writers group’s holiday party, one of our members shared a story from her days as a 2nd grade teacher back in the mid-1980s. It was about the last day of school before Christmas vacation, when a shy young student stayed behind after everyone else had left the classroom. The little girl apologized that she hadn’t been able to get a gift for her teacher as the other kids had done. She explained that her mother said they couldn’t [...]

By |December 19th, 2025|Columns, Holidays, Values|

Southern Northern Lights

During her Scandinavian vacation last Spring, our daughter sent us photos from Sweden of the Northern Lights. I thanked her, and told her that was probably the closest I’d ever get to seeing the Northern Lights. I was wrong. I still haven’t seen them in person, but our son sent us photos of the Northern Lights from his home in Minnesota when they were visible there a few weeks ago. One picture included a stunning red backdrop for their house [...]

By |November 24th, 2025|Columns, Family|

A Law of Motion—and Writing

Part of Newton’s First Law of Motion—which I’m paraphrasing—states that a body in motion will remain in motion, and a body at rest will remain at rest, until acted upon by another force. I’m planning to use that as my legal defense. Not that my body has been at rest. But my blog has. My last post said that I was going to take a summer break and be off-line for a few weeks. That was on July 1. Obviously, [...]

By |October 13th, 2025|Accountability, Columns, Quotes and Sayings|

Taking a Break!

It’s time for a summer break, so I’m going to be off-line for a few weeks. I hope you have a safe and wonderful 4th of July holiday, and I hope you're enjoying the summer. I'll see you again soon!

By |July 1st, 2025|Columns, Holidays|

A Different View

A lot of people honked their horns and waved, or gave us a “thumbs up” as they drove past. But I saw three “thumbs down” signals, and a handful—no pun intended—of middle fingers. One elderly man shouted “F*** you!” several times while waiting for the traffic light to change, and another rolled down his window to yell out, “Are y’all getting paid?” Most of the responses, however, were positive and supportive. My husband and I did something on Saturday that [...]

By |June 17th, 2025|Columns, Making a Difference, Quotes and Sayings, Values|

Take a deep breath

I learned a lot during the year and a half my family lived in Colorado more than 25 years ago. Watching a sunset that seemed to color the entire sky, I learned what John Denver meant when he sang, “I’ve seen it raining fire in the sky”—although I’ve since learned that he was actually singing about a meteor shower. While baking a birthday cake for one of the kids, I learned there’s a reason for “High Altitude Directions” on boxes [...]

By |June 3rd, 2025|Columns, Family, Health and Well-being, Travel|