As 2025 slides into focus, I felt the pressure to make a plan for how I wanted this new year to unfold. We might all be conditioned to set goals or make mission statements as one year ends and a new one begins. You also might have watched the New Read more…
Christmas is in full swing now. Almost every house on our street has Christmas lights up. Though I love the atmosphere those lights produce at night, I worry about the “gray-hair” guys putting up those lights on ladders. I understand it. They are fulfilling traditions, which can be a burden Read more…
Life Transitions: Sometimes when I sit down to write my newsletter, I let the Universe lead me to the topic I am to write about. Recent circumstances have stirred up the topic of building resilience through life experiences. This month the resilience theme has continued to pop up. A few Read more…
Life Transitions: Today I am sitting at my second makeshift desk trying to find the determination to send out this newsletter. We had the unexpected happen. When we returned home from Texas, after my book publisher’s conference and an extended stay for our 50th wedding anniversary, we found warped floors Read more…
Life Transitions: Butterflies rest when it rains because it damages their wings. It’s okay to rest during the storms of life. You’ll fly again when it’s over. You might agree that physical fatigue from emotional stress is more difficult to recover from. For those with chronic health issues or going Read more…
Life Transitions: My husband is a retired Assistant Chief/Fire Marshal from the Olympia Fire Department, so we have had the privilege of returning to our roots to attend functions at what is now called Fire House Station #5. This station is not the traditional “fighting fire” type of fire station. It Read more…
Life Transition: “To be nobody-but yourself-in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else-means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.” ~ e.e. cummings. We have so many messages in our developmental years that inform Read more…
Father’s Day is in June and I have been pondering fatherhood and what has changed in parenting styles over my lifetime. However, I can’t speak of all fathers or the demographic variations of how fathers parent throughout the US. Yet, I know our understanding of child development has evolved since Read more…
Life Transitions: Last month I wrote about the “slow movement” and this month I’m carrying that theme further. While gardening with my head down planting cold weather crops, I heard a bird call out a tribute to spring. I immediately knew it was a Robin and I could see in my Read more…
Life Transitions: My granddaughters are into buying clothes at consignment stores. This is an aspect of “slow fashion”. Slow fashion is an awareness that considers the manufacturing process and resources used to make the clothes. Our local newspaper had an article recently on “slow home furnishing” which called for a Read more…