A red and white sailboat, moored at its secured buoy, rocks bow to stern. The tour paddleboat leaving the Port of Excelsior just tooted its horn. A man in black sweater, khakis, trilby and white beard checks his dory. It is a beautiful 50–degree day at “my office” in my car at Excelsior Commons in Minnesota. I’ve come today to displace some anxiety. This beautiful setting, of boats and water, is once again working its magic and bringing me to a place where I can both let go of worries and concentrate on what is at hand for me this…
Read MoreGratitude Notes
I know. Not a blog post since June 2015. No, I haven’t fallen off the planet. But I did need to disappear here for awhile. My website was past its sell date and needed a new look. The old blog posts on my mobile looked terrible and did nothing but frustrate me as I tried to navigate my way around it. As well, both I and my wonderful website designer, Angie Hughes of Angie’s Creative, each needed some time to think about what we wanted my website to look like and to find time when we could bring the plan…
Read MorePoems for Life
Today is Day 2 in the June 2015 Challenge in Pictures or Words. Not sure how I stumbled upon my favorite book of poems, Poems for Life, but I love the concept of its compilation. When I bought the book, The Nightingale-Bamford School was not on my radar. A quick look online and I learned it’s an all-girls prep school in Manhattan. According to the Teacher’s Note in the book, the origination of the idea behind this collection of poems came from a 1992 Irish anthology of poems entitled Lifelines. Lifelines had its beginnings in 1985 with Dublin students at Wesley College…
Read MoreJune 2015 Challenge in Pictures or Words
June is upon us! Here’s the June 2015 Challenge for those who wish to participate in it. For those who are new to this idea. Simple snap a picture or write a blog post about the #day. Then, post it on your favorite social media such as Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, and put a link to me. Here’s where to connect me: Instagram Facebook Twitter VSCO.co Happy June!
Read MoreThe view from my favorite tree
I love the smell of pine trees. We had eleven Norway pines in the yard of my childhood home. They were great for my two brothers and me to climb. They caused an awful lot of work for Mom who scrubbed to remove the sap from our clothing. Our cat, Scamper, loved the pines too. Once Mom had to climb fifteen feet up one of the Norways because we kids thought the cat was stuck to sap. That day, pinecones rattled from their branches to the cushiony needle bed below to coincide with the anger coming from our mom.…
Read MoreFavorite Scents of a Woman
Day 29 Favorite Smell in the Moments of May 2015 Challenge One of my first olfactory memories is Mom putting Baby Magic on my baby brother Steve. Somehow, the manufacturers of the baby lotion captured newborn innocence in a bottle. Close behind my first memory is my second: Johnson’s Baby Powder. The fluffy powder – who knows if its smell brought me back to my own babyhood days – but its fragrance has always calmed me – something like the sound of birds chirping makes me feel all is well in the world. Growing up with two brothers, I was…
Read MoreHappy Place
“…he leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul…” Psalm 23:2-3 My happy place is by the sea. The whys are stated below. 1. Sea music. You don’t need to bring your own music to the beach. The sea has its own sound system. It plays a lullaby and allows you to rest and think. Other days, it’s a constant repertoire of crashing cymbals and thunderous drumrolls. The waves unchink the stress right out of you. Your thoughts are silenced by the concert of the sea. Your soul is hushed by its never repeated notes. 2. Water People.…
Read MoreGrateful Day 16 in Moments in May 2015 Challenge
Guide to a Happy Life
Day 15 is “Take my advice and…” in our Moments in May 2015 Challenge. Sometimes I bristle when people give me unsolicited advice. I want to say back to those offering it, “If I’d have wanted your advice, I’d have asked.” I hope this feels more like a “Guide to a Happy Life” post. At least, the following is how I have made a happy life. Cheers! 1. Get yourself a dog. My friend Cheryl has a funny saying about the difference between dogs and cats. Dogs wait on you. Cats want a staff. We’ve owned both and there is nothing like…
Read MoreThe Dodge Brothers, ABBA, and my first car
Bring up the subject of one’s first car and you’ll be taken for a ride. In my case, down Memory Lane. I don’t think Dad had a clue what he faced taking his only and firstborn daughter car-shopping in 1978 to “Larry Reid’s Chrysler Plymouth and Dodge” ( hear their jingle here) in Bloomington, Minnesota on Penn Avenue, except to say that I remember him saying he “liked the Dodge Brothers.” Turns out I did too when, in the used car lot, I laid eyes on an orange car with a white roof. Before Dad could say, “I think we…
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