Rocky could not help his basset instincts. He loved a good sniff.Rocky was our problem child.  He didn’t want to be our problem child, but it is what it is.  He came to us by accident, if there is such a thing. Rocky struggled to find a home where he was accepted.  His … [Read more...]

A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them. Liberty Hyde Bailey Nothing comes for free.  It may seem so at times, but the truth is, the things … [Read more...]

Consider the possibility of a miracle, okay?  You are hit with the double whammies of self-doubt and the not sure this is really happening conundrums that make you question all that you hold true. Enter the miracle –embracing your humanity and the equal view that you possess all … [Read more...]

“I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning...”  Joseph Priestley Some time ago on New Year’s Eve, when living in San Francisco, I visited a friend who was Chinese.   … [Read more...]

“Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you.” ― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars The holiday season sometimes prompts complaints of commercialism, being too busy, and not having enough.  It can also bring up feelings of loneliness and melancholy.  There are a myriad of … [Read more...]

“If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.” — Rabbi Harold Kushner  It is so easy to think of Thanksgiving as a holiday of food.  Afterall, there … [Read more...]

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. Martin Luther King, Jr. Consider the obvious.  Life is showing you a way and you look at the way like a deer in headlights.  What?  You say.   I thought I was supposed to go that way. Okay, so you feel … [Read more...]

Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity. - Louis Pasteur When my friend Matt Cromwell, the author of the blog, The Church/State Guy, wrote me and asked if I would like to be part of a blog relay, HOPE 2012, initiated by … [Read more...]

Occasionally I deviate from the garden prose to comment on other life pursuits, collecting being one of them. We fondly call them the MacStuff Brothers.  Treasure hunters like no other.  Firmly committed to the belief that one cannot have enough stuff, they are otherwise known … [Read more...]