Wind can be a powerful metaphor.  I watch it now as a thunderstorm gains strength.  Trees sway in its wake.  I see a certain flexibility in the act.  The tree does not break as I would think it would amid such strength. It seems to bend willingly to the force of the wind, never … [Read more...]

Whether the flower or the color is the focus I do not know. I do know the flower is painted large to convey my experience with the flower – and what is my experience if it is not the color? -- Georgia O'Keeffe  I don’t know what it is about a flower.  Its color?  Its shape? … [Read more...]

Okay, I admit it. We have more dogs than we should. But what’s the alternative? None. Our animals needed homes. They found us. We found them. It was fate. We make it work. Thank God for Minerva, the housekeeper that comes every other week. Without her, we would be buried in a … [Read more...]

We all have a place in the scheme of things. Ask Rocky. He knows.   When I was the Executive Director for an animal welfare organization on Whidbey Island in Washington I came in contact with many dogs. Rocky was found hanging out in the middle of a street, basking in the sun, … [Read more...]

Just when you think it is over, it is not.  Sometimes there is a thing that happens when you give up.  It’s as if the seas part (remember Moses?) and you realize what you have and you say why not and so many other things.  Perhaps it is surrender or something like that.  You just … [Read more...]

I have a particular fondness for decidious trees and plants.  For me they seem to replicate the whole life cycle, from birth to death to birth again.  In their barren winter state, you think it is over, but it really isn't.  Come spring, new life appears, often more vibrant than … [Read more...]

My husband loves cars, among other things.  I love plants, among other things.  This past Saturday, we made a happy trade.   My husband who happens to be the president of the San Diego Volvo Club was coordinating a road excursion through East County.  The words were not quite … [Read more...]

"A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins." Laurie Colwin, Home Cooking   I can’t help it.  I love tomatoes.  When I see them taking shape in the garden I get very excited.  In fact, I yelp, eyeing the gems.    It used to be that other things caught my … [Read more...]

I have spent a lot of time wanting what wasn’t mine.  Wanting things that others have.  Wanting what seems to be better than what I possess. The error in such want is that so much slips by in my shortsighted view.   The friend I forget despite efforts to the contrary, the husband … [Read more...]

Serendipity. Look for something, find something else, and realize that what you’ve found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for. - Lawrence Block There are no accidents.  I look around me and I see a life that speaks not to chance, but to … [Read more...]