The last few weeks of my brothers’ lives played out like the conclusion of a dramatic Hollywood script, a plot with a twist. The road trip they took, two weeks before the first death, became the beginning of a larger journey, the one in which they would both leave this world. ~ excerpt from the […]
The burgundy shirt that hung on the post in front of Amy’s new apartment let me know I was at the right place. A Woman’s Clothing Exchange, a long time tradition in Floyd, was about to begin. “Late afternoon tea served, bring a simple snack or sweet to share. Leftover clothing given to Angel’s in […]
1. Do your own thing 2. In your own time 3. Follow your own instincts 4. We’re not in Kansas Post notes: All the above photos were taken in my neighborhood on the Blue Ride Parkway. In the last photo you can see the top of Buffalo Mountain, Floyd’s highest peak, at nearly 4,000 feet. […]
Our regional blogger meet-up at the Café Del Sol – called together because fellow-blogger Terri Dulong was in town – came and went like a whirlwind that left my head spinning. At one point I counted 8 bloggers (all talking at once), 9 if you count Bernie, who made a brief appearance and who doesn’t […]
1. Last week I picked my great niece up at school and drove her home because she was sick and her mother couldn’t get off work. On the way, we passed the sign posted here, and I had to pull over to snap a photo. Needless to say, my niece didn’t understand my fascination with […]
Tryptophan is my friend. I woke up this morning at 8:00 a.m. with that sentence in my mind. The capsule of tryptophan (the amino acid found in turkey and milk) that I swallowed at 4 a.m. had made me groggy, but it was worth it. I slept. Yesterday, I rode out to Ellett Valley in […]
1. A car trunk-full of foraged apples played a role in the very first meeting between my husband, Joe, and me. Years later, a red apple was offered and ceremoniously eaten during our wedding on the Blue Ridge Parkway. 2. To this day, we are still held under the spell of wild apples, and each […]
After completing “The Jim and Dan Stories,” my writing didn’t abruptly stop, but the book had its own rhythm and timing and there came a point when the story was told. I continued to take notes and some stories came like aftershocks, too late to be included in the book. Soon, I put “The Jim […]
Remember when you were a kid and you made an ugly face and someone told you that you better watch out because your face could get stuck that way? I recently came across the following description of grief in my journal: Grief is like the heat it takes to soften metal. Yes, it hurts. Yes, […]
“I have never liked working. To me a job is an invasion of privacy.” – Danny McGoorty, Irish pool player My father wanted me to be a doctor, but I had a secret romantic idea that I wanted to be a peddler, either that or join the Peace Corp. The following entry was inspired by […]
1. I live in a log cabin on 3 acres. When describing it to others, I like to lower their expectations by referring to it as a humble abode, lived-in, country, or rustic. 2. My neighbor’s yard is like the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and mine is like the U.S. side. He mows more […]
Strand by Strand her world closes in By her own design she hangs by a thread
