August Reverie
This is my August reverie…
There is never a perfect time to ponder one’s direction in life. After all, those chores won’t do themselves. The workload won’t ease up. The needs, wants, demands, and fears of the world conspire to pull us from contemplation into action.
But on a hot summer night when the sky glows with sunset smiles and the fireflies ease from their day nests to grace the darkness and the bullfrog on the edge of the pond announces his dominance, I find a way to slough off the cares of the world, to ignore the smoke of Canada’s wildfires writhing down the hill to layer the prairie in warning. I quiet the […]
A Midsummer’s Madness
Oh, how quickly the days speed by! It’s already July and I’m writing like crazy…two novels completed, another in the R and D stage. Yes, writers do research and development, we just don’t refer to it as such!
Had the opportunity to visit the Ohio History Center to read up on Quakers in southern Ohio and their involvement with the Underground Railroad movement in the first half of the nineteenth century. What a fascinating deep dive into that period. I learned so much and still have more to do. My next two excursions involve a trip to the Freedom Museum in Cincinnati and one to Wilmington College to explore their Quaker heritage works.
I’m also developing poems and several courses for the […]
Find Your Summer Retreat
Because it’s summer…
Because you deserve to find joy…
Because the world is truly “too much with us” these days…
Find a place where you can retreat from the stress, pressure, cares, sorrows, a place where you feel your own life thrumming through your body.
Savor the land and the sky, the mountains and the water. Inhale the fragrance of lilac, rose, and new-mown grass.
Open every sense to the pleasure of residing in the moment and allow that peace to heal, if only for a little while, the torn and bleeding parts of your soul and psyche.
We are allowed to breathe deeply of the goodness in the world and, renewed, return to advocate for its survival.
Are You a Word Warrior?
The arrival of May signals a change in the tempo of growing things. The garden beds warm, seeds germinate, the pond and prairie hum with exuberant life. A new set of goslings in the neighborhood delight with their fuzzy bodies as they follow their tribe across the lawns and into the water. While the young ones practice swimming, their parents, ever vigilant, remain on guard to protest the incursion of dogs off leash, eager to prove their hunting skills, or fend off hawks that swoop overhead to snatch a tender mouthful. Watching from the sidelines, I hold my breath, fearful that mama and papa will be unable to prevent the predators from claiming an offspring. But the elder geese make […]
If It’s Spring, It’s Time to Clean…
Spring cleaning…a chore or a pleasure? A time to restore or a time to clear out the old nest and weave a new one? The birds frequenting my backyard have no trouble doing the work, but we humans often need a nudge.
Over the past two months, I’ve evaluated the incredible accumulation of ‘stuff’ in our drawers and closets, weighing what I have to have and what I can live without. Only makes sense to do the same with the clutter of my writing life.
My first step was to revisit all my thumb drives, tidy up my poetry folder, add and clarify ideas, and, on occasion, jettison what no longer works. Make no mistake, it’s not easy killing those darling phrases […]
Marching Orders
You ever have one of those days when you swear the universe is sending smoke signals but you just can’t read them? Yeah. I had one yesterday, its residue strong enough to push me to write about it today.
I was preparing to leave for an evening of non-fiction readings by two local authors at the newest event sponsored by the Springboro Historical Society — Reading Between the Wines — where I serve as facilitator. I have the honor of introducing the readers for the evening, and this was the second month of the series.
When I finished showering and dressing, I reached into my jewelry box to scrabble for earrings. I did not plan to wear any additional ‘bling.’ Then my […]