All writers have muses–mine just happen to be joyful shih tzu pups. Our beloved Kona, whose dark chocolate puppy coat turned blonde as he got older, was so sweet and affectionate. He was smushy and cuddly, and spoke to us in sniffy snorts. He had soulful eyes and a tongue that was always adorably sticking…
The calendar page has turned. The year is new. Here we are in January. This is traditionally a time when we’re holding so many hopes for the next twelve months, when we’re feeling the lightness of promise, and reaffirming to ourselves that this year our dreams are possible. We make plans. We set intensions. We…
The holidays offer so much opportunity to lean into the happy. But I know all too well how it’s a difficult time for many as well. Missing loved ones can make this time of year feel especially tender…but I think traditions help. Not only do traditions evoke cheerful memories of celebrations long gone, but…
September. Late-summer tomatoes lasted until the end of the month. Cool mornings whispered of days to come. Afternoons still felt steamy. Leaves, a mere scattering, drifted ever so softly to the ground. Sunlight glimmered, felt both warm and a winding-down at the same time. Nights rolled up earlier. Mornings arrived later. September, always a month…
Here We Are It’s August, and I’m taking my time in appreciating the season…the way the sky softens then brightens early, how the sunlight lingers late into the evening. These are special days. The produce is abundant. Every piece of fruit is juicy. Tomatoes are plentiful (beyond plentiful!). It’s a hot, lazy time of…
It’s the most wonderful time of the year in my kitchen AND I AM OVERJOYED. That’s right, we’re talking all-caps enthusiasm! My happiness cannot be contained. Let me backtrack. I’m an avid home cook. Like everyone else on the Eastern Seaboard, we’ve trudged through winter’s limp offerings at the grocery store: lackluster lettuce, barely…
I’ve spent the early part of spring getting back into knitting. Now, I’ll be honest: I’ve taken up knitting before and didn’t stick with it consistently enough to…well, make it stick. But I longed to rescue this fledgling scarf project of mine, so I signed up for another beginner’s knitting class, which, predictably, led to…
Of all the flowers in the world, daffodils mean spring to me. Their proud stems concealing conical petals are some of the first to poke through the frigid ground after a long hibernation. When the weather still carries a chilly edge, when the sun shines but doesn’t yet warm completely, daffodils serve up an effervescent…
We’re in a brittle time of year. The air is so cold it could crack. Drudgery is taking root. We’re stiffening. Oh, February, you can be hard on the heart. But every now and again, the sun pokes through the clouds, piercing and bright. There’s hope in that fleeting warmth. It’s like nature is…
It’s the 745th day of January. This month is never-ending. It’s both too frigid and too fiery. It’s biting. It’s cranky. And we’re feeling it all. I don’t have to list the reasons why. We know why. We’re all living this year’s difficult, and in some ways, heartbreaking, start. On top of that, each of…