Last week a friend phoned and asked, “Do you have any time left?” At least, that’s how I heard it at first. And thought–Gee, I hope so. Then I chuckled to myself when I realized what she actually said and meant was, “Do you have any thyme left?” Her own patch had faded, and, a […]
A recently widowed friend says that without her husband of almost fifty years, even little things have changed. A few weeks after her husband’s death, strong storm winds rattled the roof during the night, and she felt helpless and a bit frightened in the darkness. But she has found that allowing herself to feel her feelings […]
Something unexpected happens when these two seemingly very similar butterflies, shown above sharing a coneflower in my Texas hill country garden, open their wings. When it unfolds, the one on the left in the photo above reveals through its stained-glass pattern that it is a monarch: The one pictured on the right in the photo […]
I hear this opening phrase often: “Life is too short . . .” The blank is usually filled in with phrases such as “to fold fitted sheets” or “to drink cheap beer.” I know–in theory, at least, if not always in practice–that it really is too short to spend it obsessing over things that don’t […]
(such a sky and such a sun i never knew and neither did you and everybody never breathed quite so many kinds of yes) –E. E. Cummings The past week in the Texas hill country was one of noticing new life in progress: two pairs of scissortail flycatchers flying in front of me as […]
A few weeks ago, I paused when I read the following news headline: “Astronomers have discovered the largest known structure in the universe, a clump of active galactic cores that stretches 4 billion light-years from end to end.” This discovery evidently made astronomers rethink the size of the cosmos. It made me think, though, of […]
Almost three years ago, my husband and I stopped for lunch at the little Baja restaurant whose sign is pictured above, and I immediately noticed the prolific vine covering the fence out front. Its orange blooms overpowered even the adjacent bougainvillea, and I snapped several pictures. As I approached, I noticed some Queen butterflies nectaring […]
Nature’s color is wondrous; this photo has not been enhanced in any way.
An October day a few years ago: On this crisp bluest-sky morning, I am doing something I love, horseback riding with friends, but I’m not really focusing on what I am doing. Instead I am worrying about an appointment I have this afternoon, fretting about the need for this MRI I will undergo and mentally listing […]
Studies in Color and Composition
Radical Retirement
Sean Dietrich's column on life in the American South.
A Glimpse into My Life & Passions
Joann Pensabene
Where observation and imagination meet nature in poetry.
pursuing a life of purpose
Writing our way to awareness
Living life outside the lines
A Story Circle Network blog for and by women
A Diary of Love, Literature, and Growing Up in Wartime America
Practicing Wonder 