The sound of car tires crunching on gravel just outside our tent woke me. The morning was just dawning and the damp haze of night was still hanging in the air, muffling the sound of chirping birds. I wriggled out of the sleeping bag sandwiched between my two brothers who were still asleep. I crawled … More The Worst Day of My 12 Year Old Life
I was speaking with a young man at an art gallery here in Sedona about the work of Texas artist and sculptor Bill Worrell. He paints, writes and sculpts, and the bronze deer shaman figures he creates really speak to me. Each shaman raises outstretched arms toward the sky and sends a unique message into … More The Raven…Trickster…Spirit Guide
In the beauty salon where I began my career there were a number of hairdressers who still had weekly clients who came to have their hair shampooed, set in rollers, dried under the hooded hairdryer, and then combed out and sprayed with enough hairspray to ensure that not one hair would fall out of place … More Finding Beauty
This is for the friends who have asked me how I went about finding a loving, healthy relationship in my late sixties. You know who you are and I truly hope you find the happiness you are seeking. Finding love at this late time in my life was an unexpected surprise, but looking back … More How did you do that?
My first 12 years of life were spent at 2621 N. Chester, and when we weren’t camping in the Smoky Mountains over summer break, you would find me in our backyard which was a world of its own. It was filled with the natural beauty of an enormous pussy willow bush, a peach tree, cherry … More Thief of Grapes
My love of cooking heated up years ago when I first started living with a boyfriend and accepted sole responsibility for preparing meals. My favorite part of a meal was a sweet ending, and that led to a joy of baking. I was eager to try new recipes and curious to see how they would … More German Pancake Recipe Story
We all build walls between ourselves and other people, and between ourselves and the “world”. We build these walls so we can hide behind them when strong emotions threaten to topple us, or so we can retreat to them when the “world” seems to want to devour us, morsel by morsel. We believe that we … More Tearing Down the Walls
As I reach inside the mailbox on this still, snow-covered morning A bird’s voice falls from the sky to my ear It’s behind me…loud and clear… And it’s the only sound I hear Slowly I turn and stand stock-still, Much like the trees so near My eyes flit up, up through the branches Seeking, but … More The Hawk and Me
We were hiking on a trail called Broken Arrow, saying our farewell to Sedona until our return next year. We were both commenting on and enjoying the beauty of the red rocks, and red earth. Mark was a little ahead of me on a narrow, hilly path strewn with large, lichen covered stones sitting on … More A Vortex Moment
Clear blue skies…warm sunshine…a small secluded canyon of gorgeous Sedona red rock…surrounded by twisted Pinon trees and white barked Sycamores…air filled with the scent of pine…bright butterflies fluttering and tiny hummingbirds hovering. Long, slender tree, bleached white by the sun and the beauty of age…tugged up from a small nearby ravine…placed on a ledge of … More Building Our Wedding Altar
Do you every find a penny from Heaven? A couple of days ago Mark and I were hiking and my eye caught a bright ray of sunlight glinting off a small round copper coin. I couldn’t miss it! As I leaned over to pick it up the sweet memory of my mother hugging me wrapped … More A Penny From Heaven
When I was a child the tea my mother served was Lipton tea, prepared with a tea bag. The Arthur Godfrey show was sponsored by the Lipton Tea company and I remember Arthur telling everyone how delicious it was and how one tea bag would make 3 cups of tea. My mother took him at … More Tea, Mom, and Me
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