Cardinalis cardinalis.   Like an enlightened Hellen Keller, I gorge on names in a Master Naturalist class, running from tree to tree. What’s the name of this tree, that bloom?…

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow A baseball cap wedged between the bed and wall, the piano bench pulled out, an empty refrigerator, and piles of sheets and towels, that’s what’s…

The Day After Whew! Lent is over. I almost said, Easter is over, since it was yesterday, but Easter is my every day now. The time of constant self-examination and mourning…

Both Hands As I sat down at the kitchen table with a sandwich, the ticking clock sounded loud in the otherwise quiet house. I reached for my laptop but realized…

My ears blared sirens in my head, not of sound but of hot-pokered pain. I sat on the crinkly paper in an exam room. “Your ears are fine.” “What? Then…

The air conditioner kicked on as I wound the vacuum cord back into place, but the house was otherwise ominously quiet.  Curious, I poked my head around the door frame…

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what it would feel like to hold hands with God, not metaphorically, but literally. Jesus grabbed Peter’s hand when he was sinking under…

Do you remember playing hide and seek when you were a kid? We played it at night and called it murder-in-the-dark. All the neighborhood kids gang in our yard, milling…

Toes dug in the sand, the water laps at my feet, sending chills up my back. I shuffle forward until the water reaches my ankles and suck in my breath. The…

Hello Friends, You saw “What Defines You” on Monday and are probably wondering why you’re getting another blog notice this week. Today is a special day. Today is Ash Wednesday.…

Who Are You? What Defines You? A couple of decades ago I could hold a toddler on my hip while I dragged wet clothes from the washer to the dryer,…

Do you see king cakes and moon pies in the grocery store now? Parade floats line the streets and beads hang detangled, ready for tossing. We may or may not…