Random personal tidbit #1:  One of my favorite toys as a child was a homemade guillotine my brother gave me.

The guillotine was sitting on the kitchen table when I returned home from school that Spring day, left behind by my decade-older brother. It stood about 18" high, with a metal… Read full post »

As my sister sits and waits while her wife is in surgery, 

aggressive cells break through walls at my other sister-in-law's house

(even though she was free three months ago

as I was free three months ago -

and counting.

I can't help counting...)

As my niece fears germs so deeply her pa… Read full post »

 According to a mutilation of ancient Mayan prophecy, some believe that today, December 21, 2012, means it will be the end of the world. No matter that that's not how the prophecy goes.

This date does mean that a new astronomical era has begun.

The Mayans believed in the circular natur… Read full post »

 It's Election Day 2012 today.

Voting was pleasant as usual here in Oregon. I drove up to the ballot box and hopped out, took my photo of the ballots going in the box (although this is not necessary, they say, I do it anyway), and waved to several women I knew.… Read full post »

We awoke before dawn this day and whispered our good mornings, entwining our fingers with leg thrown over leg, our sleepy minds slowly giving thought to the day ahead. The window's view before us gave shape as the dawn began to rise, rows of dark spires, mostly young redwood peaks,… Read full post »

Once upon a Winter's week, we drove down to the coast... 

 I love stopping here ~ almost always an empty beach up here on the Lost Coast.

Another favorite stopping place on the far northern California coast ~ that water will freeze your toes, even in August !… Read full post »

 The sounds of air battle were loud, we could hardly hear ourselves talk over the noise of the video game the boys were playing upstairs in their grandmother's bedroom. Don, my (twice widowed) mother's third husband, offered to go upstairs and check on them, to… Read full post »

Each year when this day comes, I quietly mark it with a small smile. I don't tend to say a word, but I know. 

Today is my Freedom Day.

The day I left

fear.

So long ago, another world ago,

 18 years

today.

Escaping with my two small boys,

… Read full post »

 Long ago, when my mother once remarked, "You look blowsy" I thought she meant 'vibrant, bright-colored, gyspy-like.'

 I distinctly remember the event:  I was in my late teens and finally daring to wear on a date the Forties-inspired, brightly printed bandeau halter with… Read full post »

Earlier this Spring....

March -- earliest signs of life in the garden

later, an unfurling tulip 

new rhubarb ~ Spring frost

 early April cherry buds ~

(now hundreds of small green cherries)

&… Read full post »

It was pitch black that night a couple months ago when we drove through the canyon on our way to the coast. The only illumination on that winding route came from passing headlights bouncing off the rocky walls as the sparse traffic wound its way through the narrow bends. The only… Read full post »

Well, the grand plan for this weekend was to get the spring transplanting going before the garden buds out, inspired by Phyllis45's bustling garden work on her posts this week  ( http://open.salon.com/blog/phyllis45 ).

Mother Nature has intervened.

So, this snow, snowy Sunday, in the one corner… Read full post »

They were in a fight.

Drinking.

He stormed out of the house, the house they share, where their five year old lay sleeping in her pink, ribboned room. Their son, more used to the tension between his parents, sat in his favorite chair in his room with headphones on, trying… Read full post »

 The legends of the beginnings of Valentine's Day are varied and confused -- some say there were actually three different men called Valentine back in the day, the days of ancient Rome, that is.

One of those stories about Valentine of which fact and legend are impossib… Read full post »

How shall I call my spirit back in...

...when she has been dancing among the forest trees?

                                                    &… Read full post »

The newspaper was found among the multitude of papers she left behind, just a small circular from her hometown in upstate New York. None of her children ever knew she wrote about her childhood memories of Christmas during that last Christmas season she was alive, or that it was ever published.… Read full post »

This week, as the Penn State scandal continues to unfold involving coach Jerry Sandusky's alleged multiple counts of abuse against boys, all boys from Sandusky's charity, "The Second Mile," I felt called to re-post this article written last year at this same time. The article is about a two-part… Read full post »

I last wrote about a crazy dream, and its aftermath in my adult life.

Then things got a little crazier.

On Halloween night, 25 hours or so after I posted that last post (although it is listed as October 29th), I saw a meteor streaking across the sky -- not high… Read full post »

~ A true, scary tale ~

The dream haunted me for years when I was a girl, circling around with other recurring nightly visitations that all conspired to prevent a sweet dream from ever gracing my childhood slumber. This particular dream series repeated each time with little variation of detail and… Read full post »

For most of the year, our area's highest peak is a snow-capped, beautiful vision, one that draws skiers and snowboarders who like steep runs in winter and early spring, one that draws a photographer's eye year-round.

This is a shot I took in late July, the view one would see… Read full post »

The very last secret in my father's life came on slowly:  teasing our family with that first shocking glimpse, leaving its clues scattered, then hiding so quietly we all forgot its existence. I thought it gone, anyway, but I was a child and hadn't yet learned what pernicious meant. 

Glimmer… Read full post »

"Do you know of a good bookstore around here?" I asked the cashier as she handed me an enormous spinach salad and slice of cheese pizza at this unfamiliar restaurant in this unfamiliar town. We had found this low-slung eatery in the downtown area, sandwiched between Thai cuisine and a bar,… Read full post »

If you've ever had doubts that chimps, and other animals for that matter, have feelings, are cognizant, and are aware of their quality of life, watch this:

                                   … Read full post »

 ~ The first and most exciting entry ~

Quilting a baby quilt ! 

Yes, our oldest son and his girlfriend are expecting their first child, a girl.  She is due in two weeks. The quilt I am making for her is the first I've made since this tapestry quilt I made many… Read full post »