• Rabbit! Rabbit! Welcome to October

    The Pandemic killed Halloween Then and Now Nearly a century ago, no one had “Pandemic Shuts Down Halloween “ on their bingo card. The Great Influenza Pandemic griped the nation back in 1918, so most Halloween celebrations were cancelled due to quarantines. At least 195,000 people had died of this novel disease in America by…


  • Rabbit! Rabbit! Welcome to May!

    April showers bring May flowers and Coronavirus containment orders. Everything we once knew about our worlds has been upended by the advent of this novel virus. Once we were proud of our abilities to master our planet and to wrest its unruly ways to our wills. Now we meet an invisible, but infinitely small agent…


  • More Sunsets

    How many of us get to admire the great creative exuberance of the divine palette strewn across the sky twice a day in our ordinary days? Most of us are too busy breakfast grabbing, caffeine swilling, clothes donning, and storming the door in a mad dash for the morning rush to work. Then we join…


  • Alone in the Woods

    Life for extroverts in the Age of Social Distancing is difficult. They need people to bounce their ideas off of, friends to hear their tales of daily struggles or victories, and most of all, the transfer of energy between the parties to feel alive. For introverts, most of whom need space and quiet to restore…


  • A Happy Bird for a Cloudy Day

    “Do not curse the king, even in your thoughts,or curse the rich, even in your bedroom;for a bird of the air may carry your voice,or some winged creature tell the matter.” ~~ Ecclesiastes 10:20 “A little bird told me,” my nanny often said, when I asked her how she knew about my doings. “The walls…


  • Art and Life in the Age of Coronavirus

    Some people are hoarding toilet paper and hand sanitizer in this germ conscious age of Coronavirus, but we who practice the art life are also stocking up on Liquitex heavy body acrylic paint and canvases plus coffee, so we can make the best of a bad situation. We’re also giving encouragement to all we meet…


  • Hope and Promise

    The new year is always full of hope and promise. If we only look backward, we see what was unfulfilled and unfinished. When I sold insurance, I always had a calendar with my name and phone number printed on it, as a promise to my clients I would be there for them in the coming…


  • ICONS OF THE NATIVITY

    What is the most important image of the birthplace of Christ? For some of us, it’s a stable filled with hay and animals, in which the Holy Family fill with divine light. For others, the essence is the Holy Family alone. For others, those who brought various gifts take prominence. The early icons describe a…


  • QUINOA BEEF & ASPARAGUS CHEESE BAKE

    “And are we yet alive and see each other’s face?” Illness robs us of our tastebuds as well as our sense of smell. Sickness often robs a person of their appetite, but I’ve never had that problem. Somehow I’ve managed to eat my way through the mumps, measles, chicken pox, mononucleosis, and morning sickness. Yep,…


  • WALKING INTO LIFE

    I went walking Thursday night with the Spa City Pacers in our downtown area. The humidity was high and the evening breezes of a few weeks ago were’t stirring any longer. My ice melted in my carry cup before we left the old train depot. I’ve signed up for the HOT SPRINGS 5K FUN WALK.…