The first rays of morning sun kiss the trees in the green space behind our home and the lilac bush in the yard and the green takes on a hue that is nothing short of brilliant. The right light makes all the difference. I think of the words of a verse I had tacked to the
I carry baby tomato plants in a small box on my lap while Gerry drives to the community garden. My hands brush across their leaves. The scent of hope wafts from them. The plants have been growing in my laundry room since I dropped tiny seeds into pots in early April, unmotivated, with barely enough
One morning I stand in line, appropriately distanced from the woman in front of me and hoping the person behind me is extending the same courtesy, waiting to get into the garden center. I arrived a few minutes past opening time and there was already a lineup. Plants and flowers are means to self-care, I tell
Over the course of one twenty-four-hour period, between the two of us, five Zoom calls take place in our home. Necessary, some of them; productive, a few of them; but when I realize what has crept into this sanctuary I want to scream “Stop!” How easily busyness invades our space before we even realize it’s
Today is our wedding anniversary. Twenty-one years ago today, Gerry and I stood at the front of a small church and vowed to love one another through good and less-than-good times. One might look at these days as a batch of those not so good ones. But, you know, we’ve got good food in our
I wake from a dream in which someone stands in my bedroom doorway, tells me she feels like she’s getting the flu, and then comes and sits in the edge of my bed to chat. My thoughts upon waking go something like this. No. I’m not allowing this pandemic to enter my dreams and steal
I’ve been knocked off balance. I suspect most of us have. I’m comfortable in solitude and, even before the pandemic, am happy to spend most of my time at home but it’s different now. There’s that constant hum in the back of my mind and a measure of fear over the unknown. There’s concern for