February 16, 2023
More than a decade ago, I had the privilege of accompanying my daughter, Rita, on a unique journey. She rode her bicycle or walked from the southernmost tip of Florida, all the way to Canada.
January 22, 2023
I could hear water pounding the surface of the sea and glimpsed out of the hatch to see a waterfall on the shore. The next minute the skipper, Alex, was calling to me. “Do you want to come and wash your hair in the waterfall?”
January 8, 2023
I was terrified of the disaster the storm could bring, the damage it could do to my safe world. I was terrified of damage happening when I wasn’t looking because I thought somehow I could stop it if I could see it coming.
January 1, 2023
I love the story so much that my parents purchased “A Christmas Carol Cherished Teddies” figurine version, complete with Scrooge and his counting house, so I could have Scrooge with me year round.
December 11, 2022
Gingerbreading is crafting and creating, laughing and lauding. And when the holidays are over, it takes on one last, long-awaited meaning: smashing those beautiful little houses and feasting for a month (or more!) on all the melt-in-your-mouth pieces!
December 11, 2022
If you’re in a rut, consider stretching your wings to try a course you may not normally learn toward. It doesn’t have to be a university course, but something that will enrich your soul.
December 4, 2022
It’s an amazing feeling to hold the first cup. The warmth oozes from the initial grasp of my hand into my wrist. I close my eyes and take a deep breath which refreshes my lungs and immediately brings all the happy emotions.
November 15, 2022
When you open the bag of loose leaf Pecan Praline tea, you’re instantly transported to the deep south where pecan praline candies are basically a rite of passage. The sweet, indulgent aroma of the nuts and deep, dark leaves, the spices – they all make for the heady scent that recalls childhood and comfort wrapped in a grandmother’s hug.
November 13, 2022
It’s a simple thing. It’s something I’ve basically been doing for years. But I’ve never been intentional about it or removed distractions from my morning like this. It has been a fantastic experience. I highly recommend it to others.
November 7, 2022
But as I have developed my career as a writer and editor myself, I’ve learned to embrace and celebrate being edited. (And I do use this phrase intentionally; when our words are edited, it feels like we are being edited.)
September 26, 2022
A few years ago, a hurricane demolished the storage shed and several other things on my mother’s property. In so doing, the hurricane destroyed an item precious to my mother - and to me - a marbled, dark brown accordion which she found at a thrift store years ago when she was in college.
September 19, 2022
Each week, I make a to-do list full of things I need to accomplish on any given day. It could be fun things for the MockingOwl Roost, or maybe a tedious task for work. Whatever it is, it goes on the list. And the list is color-coordinated, with “categories” of life in different colors. For example, my grad school work is in green text, while work tasks are in red.