Ah, spring. The time for the birds and the bees, and ants and weeds. On our walk a few days ago, Jim and I marveled at how the ants can rebound from catastrophic rain. I don’t mean the flooding rains Houston is known for, but any rain, even a relatively gentle one, that wipes out… Continue reading Edging around the ant beds
I am in week 3 of a Contemplative Photography class at the Houston Zen Center. I signed up for the class on a whim; I receive regular emails about events at the Center, and for some reason this one caught my eye. The class is not about photography technique. (I am using my iPhone.) It’s… Continue reading A Flash of Perception
“Stuff!,” my 87-year-old mother exclaims, shaking her hands the air as she paces her five-bedroom home in the Houston suburbs. “What am I going to do with all this stuff?” Maybe she hopes it will all magically disappear, and a sizable check will float out of nowhere, softly landing on her white, sculpted custom Edward… Continue reading On Minimalism (What matters, part 4)
Over cold Love Streets at Karbach Brewery this week, my now-legal 21-year-old son, Burke, home from college (Roll Tide!), announced he is no longer a Leo. This little bombshell came from so far out of left field, I thought I must have misheard him. My hearing’s not the best, so this wouldn’t have been unusual. … Continue reading Who moved my (zodiac) cheese?!
“I don’t think there’s anything you won’t try.” I didn’t know whether to be flattered or embarrassed. Leanne knows me better, I think, than I know myself. We have been friends for about 25 years, and we’ve been through a lot together. She’s the one who, probably 15 years ago, made the comment, “It’s never… Continue reading This week’s adventures: knuckles, knives and needles
I couldn’t wait for Jim to return home from his morning run, to show him what I had discovered. While blow drying my hair, with my head upside down, I glanced into our shower, and there it was. As plain as day. In one of the tiles in shower, a puppy’s face, staring back at… Continue reading The Puppy in the Shower
It’s been a while since my last post. My world has been turned upside down. I’ve thought about numerous posts: Friends therapy? (Why the hell not?) I miss my effing dog! It’s true: Be careful what you wish for. We are all effed up And, most recently: Just where is The Poor Farm, anyway? Since… Continue reading I’ve been away
I’m reading an interesting book, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, by surgeon, writer and public health researcher Atul Gawande. Only halfway through, already I have stumbled upon a mini revelation I wanted to share. Gawande writes that through our modernization of medicine, we have succeeded in extending lives but have failed… Continue reading What matters, part 2
“I hate people,” posted a friend to Facebook recently. “People suck,” I replied. What prompted this venomous spew? Was it in response to the Orlando shooting? The Stanford swimmer, or his imbecile father? It could have been either or both, or an infinite number of other bits of news, but instead it was in response… Continue reading Birds of a Feather
I used to care an awful lot about wrapping paper, particularly Christmas wrap. I would pride myself on selecting just the right hand crafted papers from boutique gift shops the likes of Kuhl-Linscomb and Events here in Houston. I would pair them with fabric ribbons – never those store-bought, pre-made bows! – to complement our… Continue reading What matters.
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