Every year at this time, it’s hard for me to resist the aisles of school supplies. I share my love of office products with my brother and at least one of my daughters. I remember the annual excitement when the school list came out. Always there was the one teacher who demanded that we buy… Continue reading Oh, Those Olas!

I needed her this week. It was a particularly difficult week—a rough few days at work, the stinging realization that I have been ghosted by a long-time friend, the escalating issues in Afghanistan and, of course, the fatigue that comes from brooding over the rise in COVID cases. Melancholy prevailed. What I needed was my… Continue reading Where does it go?

I could hear the frustration in her voice. A while back, a student called to discuss a problem she had. It was obvious that her stress level was running high and the pitch of her voice climbed with her desperation. I was quiet, just letting her get it all out. Then she said something I’ll… Continue reading The Crisis of Ennui

I set aside blogging for a few weeks because there has just been so much going on in my professional and personal lives—all good, but hectic nonetheless. Part of me wondered if I would miss writing my blog and I have found that, in fact, I do. I miss talking to no one, while hoping… Continue reading Warby Parker Boxes

For every person, there is a place. A magical place—magical if only because it is yours. So begins my novel, Mt. Moriah’s Wake. Many people have asked me what the book is about. What a difficult question to answer, for it’s about so many things. It’s about love—that exhilarating feeling of finding a special person,… Continue reading Welcome to Mt. Moriah

It was a pilgrimage many years in the making. My recent weekend in Jackson, Mississippi included a trip to the famous Southern author Eudora Welty’s home. There in her immaculate garden I made my apologies. You see, my first exposure to Eudora was when I was assigned to enter a humorous interpretation of Welty’s “Why… Continue reading Eudora and Me

This past Sunday my brother Jim retired from 45 years as a Methodist minister. During the course of his career, he pastored nine different congregations. I wonder how many infants he’s held and whether he feels old thinking that some of those babies are now middle aged. The Methodist church has a storied history of… Continue reading Circuit Rider

No matter how many times you've seen it, is there a movie that—if your channel surfing lands on it —you have to stop and watch? One such movie for me is You’ve Got Mail. Not only is it a thoroughly engaging Rom-Com, but I want to be the main character, Kathleen Kelly. You see, ever… Continue reading In Search of John Boy

It was a rather old birdhouse and, quite frankly, I did not see its appeal, but then again, I’ve never been a connoisseur of birdhouses. Full disclosure: Except for cardinals, I hate birds. I never feed them lest a Hitchcockian flock storm after me. That is the stuff of nightmares. So, although I may consider… Continue reading Emotional Nesting

It was one of those objects that would probably not fetch more than a dime at a yard sale. The aluminum measuring cup is scuffed from so many years of use and has no value—except to me. That’s why when its handle fell off, my reaction was totally unreasonable. Cradling the decapitated handle like a… Continue reading Holding On