Moments in May 2015 Challenge

The view from my favorite tree

June 1, 2015 • Julie Saffrin • 2 Comments

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.…

Favorite Scents of a Woman

May 29, 2015 • Julie Saffrin • 2 Comments

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…

Happy Place

May 18, 2015 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

“…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.…

Guide to a Happy Life

May 15, 2015 • Julie Saffrin • 1 Comment

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…

The Dodge Brothers, ABBA, and my first car

May 14, 2015 • Julie Saffrin • 2 Comments

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…

Day 7 Throw Back Thursday Favorite Vacation Memory for Moments in May 2015 Challenge

May 7, 2015 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

Kalalau canyon | http:'//juliesaffrin.com

Planned vacations dangle. Make us wait like quivering whiskered rabbits. Two months away. Only a week before we leave. Some vacations are relaxing. Some, like my and my husband’s March 2014 trip to Kaua’i, was a planned adventure. The encounter with the island left me a changed girl. The day before we’re set to leave, we check in, confirm our seats, re-sort what to take, refill travel bottles and, new for me, pack hiking boots. We plan to see secret beaches, the second Grand Canyon, a presence of year-round summer-like temperatures and sunshine, fog, some snorkeling, some hikes, and a…

Day 5 Favorite Music Moments in May 2015 Challenge

May 5, 2015 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. – Hunter S. Thompson How can I possibly narrow the kinds of songs I like down to a favorite? To get me thinking, I ask myself what songs I would pick for…

Day 4 #DearDiaryEntry for Moments in May 2015 Challenge

May 4, 2015 • Julie Saffrin • 2 Comments

“Most diaries begin all at once, with a rolling up of sleeves, and intake of breath — and a here goes.” from Thomas Mallon’s A Book of One’s Own: People and Their Diaries Day 4 of the Moments in May 2015 Challenge is to post a writing about or a photo of a diary entry. I’ve kept a diary for as long as I can remember. The earliest diary I have is from 1971, the year I was a seventh grader in Pat Fatchett’s English class at Portland Junior High School in Bloomington, Minnesota. Pat made us keep a year-long…

Day 3 #QuoteILove for Moments in May 2015 Challenge

May 3, 2015 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

“Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.” Author Unknown I don’t know how you finished April. I finished it well. Celebrated my youngest’s birthday, found and returned all the library books I’d borrowed on the subject of resilience, and booked two writing-related getaways – one of which I embarked upon this weekend with fellow writers from across the state of Minnesota. I also finished listening to and reading Laura McBride’s debut novel We are Called to Rise. I cannot stop thinking about this book since I finished it a week ago. I read it based upon the…