Once upon a time in a land of rolling hills and fields of corn and beans, there was a little farm girl wih red curly hair and freckles.  She lived on an old farm where her great great grandparents had settled when Indians hunted amidst its creeks and… Read full post »

It's raining now

And my work's all done.

But is it? 

I know there's something

Else ready to expose itself.

Laundry, taxes, moving -- all done!

Correspondence, cleaning -- all done!

Celebrating, preparing to celebrate?

Not quite yet!

There are two births due for this… Read full post »

Should I be lonely and blue

Because guys in my life flew?

That's okay.

They're nothing but trouble,

Leaving rings in the bathtub

And one on my finger.

Living alone is so much better,

I can sit all night to write a letter.

It may be smart,

Or… Read full post »

Oh God, help me this day

As I go along your way.

Help me grow

And let me know

Your will and your song

All the path along.

May I hear your word

Let it bring me peace.

May it build my house,

Transparent and close to… Read full post »

Can anyone find my heart and open it up?

It's guarded by memories, fears and miseries,

of a frightened little girl listening to arguing parents

in the next room while she struggles to sleep.

This heart wears armor day and night,

watching that no one gets too close

to… Read full post »

At last some relief from the sultry stifling days of summer!

Soon fall will be upon us again and we will be involved in harvest activities, even though harvest these days are more of a ritual than a reality for us city dwellers.

I look forward to these… Read full post »

Sometimes I get demanding of God, wanting complete healing, a job, more money, relief from all pain.  

And I think I deserve to get all this stuff because I'm a pretty good girl and I believe that God can do just about whatever I ask.

But wait just a… Read full post »

What a life-giving month in our home!

In August, on the 19th and 20th, my two oldest boys were born, the first child on the 20th and the younger on the 19th.  

In addition the same year the younger boy was born, on just the day before his birth,… Read full post »

My book is I, hopefully at my best and worst.  The real boring stuff is somewhere in the middle. 

For nearly a year now, I have been focusing on being awake --- seeing all the wonderful (and horrible) from this little corner of the world I… Read full post »

School's back in session.

For 180 days my last son will be grilled and molded into the fine citizen he's expected to be.

I am amazed at the miracles our schools perform on our little blocks of clay we give them.  Maybe I give schools too much credit. … Read full post »

Yesterday I was gluttonous at lunch.

It was the best meal I'd had for months!  

I didn't devour a lick of food --- only the forest and the wonderful colors therein.  

We are now at the height of the fall spectacular --- gold, more gold than gold, deep tangerines, peaches, oranges.… Read full post »

It's now about early autumn, and here in the Southern Appalachians, the trees are beginning to submit to the increasing forces that will cause them to shed all their leaves and be naked to the world for the next half a year.

As I write, I peer up… Read full post »

It's been years since I attended a college football game.  For my son Ryan's birthday though, I'm attending another for old time's sake.

What can I savor about this day, when I really don't want to be here?

The huge stadium is beautiful, and so alive with its 100,000-plus… Read full post »

For the entire month  we've experienced a real dry spell.

My cucumbers, green peppers, peas and spinach were drooping for days, begging for a long cool drink of water.  My only response:  Just wait --- it's coming!  Hang in there!  

Most of my little plants were able… Read full post »

(Originally written in 1999)

In the last couple days in Kingsport the air has taken on that more crisp feeling of fall -- so why early this year? But I can't complain.

We can now, since the thick summer sulfur-laden haze has lifted, see the mountain ridges that… Read full post »

This is a day that kind of leaves me with no one to dote over.  It's Father's Day.  

My Father passed away nearly 14 years ago, and I'm just about to be divorced from my husband.  So while I hear of many adult women working to give a… Read full post »

"I guess I'll never see the light.  I get the blues every night since I fell for you,"  sings Gladys Knight back in the 60's.  That was when I met my husband, from whom I'm divorcing in just a matter of weeks.

I want to say that I… Read full post »

(This entry is a little more recent than most of my previous posts.  One of my first efforts to watch civil disobedience in action.  Very inspiring some 13 years ago or so.)

I tossed and turned all night as I pondered the tasked ahead the next day.

For… Read full post »

(I wrote the following after I gave birth to my elder daughter more than 40 years ago.  I was euphoric as the completion of her birth after a marvelously succeeded in birthing her without medication.  She was born in a military hospital in Fort Leavenworth, KS.  She was… Read full post »

(I wrote this poem about 32 years ago, when I was all wrapped up in the wonders of Love and of God.  They both are still important in my life, but I hope my thoughts have matured somewhat in the last three decades.)

This little plant,

Let… Read full post »

(I wrote this article in the early 1970s during the wind down of the Vietnam War, to which my husband was assigned while I stayed behind in Omaha with our two small children for a year.  I still would have chosen to go  AWOL to Canada as a family.) … Read full post »

 Summer, 1984

One thing you don't call Adele Kushner:  A 60-year-old grandma.

"I'm only 59 and a half," she brags.  And she's got a lot to prove before she finishes her sixth decade.

Adele is marching across the United States and even farther --- to Moscow --- with a group of… Read full post »

Do you hear it?

Listen --- not with your ears, but with your heart.

There's someone knocking right now.  Will you let it in?

Don't go to the closest door.  This power is knocking at your door, the door no one can open but you.  It's knocking on… Read full post »