It seems like yesterday, but in actuality it was many, many years ago. The afternoon heat in the deep South drove us to the front porch where there was occasionally a breeze flickering through the leaves of the trees around us. My sister and I worked on the crocheting that our Mother was teaching us … Read more
I’ve enjoyed creative writing ever since my freshman year in college when the professor was a published fiction writer in Saturday Evening Post magazine. He required us to submit one ceative piece each week and I was hooked. As a result, years later, I discovered the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference. For a whole week each … Read more
I used to think of sixty as old. Yet here I am at eighty-four, wondering where that idea came from. Those of us in our later years are actually the fastest growing segment of the population. We’re not alone in aging — that process started the day everyone was born. We’re just further along the … Read more
Make Kindness Your Daily Practice It Costs Nothing and Changes Everything I know a man who told me something I’ve never forgotten. “Thank you for taking the time to talk with me and say hello whenever you see me,” he said. “Not many people do.” He said it quietly, without drama. But it stopped me … Read more
“When we recall the past, we usually find that it is the simplest things — not the great occasions — that in retrospect give off the greatest glow of happiness.” — Bob Hope Ronald Reagan was speaking to a classroom at the University of California when a student stood and said, “It’s impossible for your … Read more
When Memories Become History We recently marked the anniversary of D-Day with the very few remaining participants — men ranging in age from ninety-nine to over one hundred years old. This will likely be the last commemoration that most of them will be here to share. After that their memories, like those of the men … Read more
A Time of Renewal I just came back from a walk with Grayson — my dog with three paws — and discovered that spring is finally peeking its head out of the snow. Crocuses blooming. Daffodils sprouting. The sky that particular shade of brilliant blue that exists in only a few places in this country, … Read more
Not an Obituary But a Celebration of the Wind Beneath My Wings When Ron Reid, my husband of 63 years died the end of November, I honored his wish to not have an obituary in our local newspaper. He said that no one would remember him. He was wrong. Friends and former colleagues did remember … Read more
When I was in elementary school (many, many years ago), I was assigned to a choir for a school play. When the teacher told me to just mouth the words, I discovered that singing was not my gift. That was confirmed once again in the ninth grade when I tried out for the school glee … Read more
When my two daughters were little, we created corn husk dolls for them to play with. Living in a very isolated Northern Arizona community of Happy Camp while my husband worked for the U.S. Forest Service, there weren’t a lot of activities for them to take part in. Newspapers were brought in several days after … Read more
I don’t know who first wrote this this as but applies to us both as business owners and as people: Fable of the porcupine It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected … Read more
When I first saw Smokey Bear at the Washington National Zoo back in 1960, he was already ten years old and well-known to kids everywhere as the symbol of the U.S. Forest Service’s Fire Prevention campaign. The story of his life along with the evolution of the “Prevent Forest Fires” campaign featuring Smokey is an … Read more