“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.” ― Richard Bach, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah I sat across the table from my beautiful … [Read more...]

Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a  help.  Gardening is an instrument of grace.  May Sarton I had the gift today of spending time in the garden.  Hours actually, pulling weeds, pruning shrubs and … [Read more...]

                This past summer, I drove along the roads of Whidbey Island in the Northwest and spotted a sign for a private lane that said Pray Lane.  I circled back and took a picture, certain, at some point, I would consider this fork in the road, however accidental, if you … [Read more...]

“With age, gone are the forevers of youth. Gone is the willingness to procrastinate, delay, to play the waiting game. Now each day is a treasure beyond compare . . . because there are so few such diadems left.” ― Joe L. Wheeler I have a friend who is a truly beautiful woman.  … [Read more...]

“I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my … [Read more...]

Life is not a dress rehearsal. Stop practicing what you’re going to do and just go do it. In one bold stroke you can transform today. -Marilyn Grey In one blink of an eye, Tucker was gone.  The same was true with our corgi Sophie and basset hound Rocky. I have known the same … [Read more...]

We had several names for him — Tucker Boy, Big Boy, Big Man.  But no matter what the label, he was, bottom line, our Tucker.  130 pounds, give or take a few, he would have turned 13 this December.  Unfortunately, he did not get that far. When my husband Jim and I started dating, … [Read more...]

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” ― Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934 Before Merlin arrived in our lives, my garden was just a garden. Well, it was more … [Read more...]

              Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty … [Read more...]

Looking at the vast array of animals needing a home, you always will encounter heartbreak.  Losing two animals recently surely brought its own kind of trauma to our home, but it evolves into newer territory also -- some of which is not unfamiliar – to find another creature, maybe … [Read more...]