For some odd reason, I remember we were eating meatloaf that night. It was a few weeks before my freshman year in college. I had just created a moat out of my mashed potatoes and loaded the green peas on top (a family tradition) when the phone rang. Dad answered it and, with a puzzled… Continue reading Fugitive Fridays

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