Find Miss Florence Painter
“We read to know we are not alone.” – C.S. Lewis The Bermuda Triangle that has sucked up into its awful vortex my favorite fountain pen, my copy of Getting Things Done (ironic, isn’t it?), and my beautiful Canon Elph PowerShot SD600 digital camera has continued to grow in scope …
Know five things
I used to be so tech savvy. I was an early adopter of technology. I had a Psion before anyone knew what they were. I had email long before anyone else, even before my office had computers (my lord, I’m old). I always had the newest, sweetest, hippest technology around. …
Drop in and decorate
The writer of one of my very favorite food blogs, The Perfect Pantry, every year hosts a "Drop in and Decorate" party at which folks get together and create brightly decorated holiday cookies for those in need. Last year at her gathering, 45 adults and teens decorated 650 cookies that …
Always stay with your vehicle
“Death is natural and necessary, but not just. It is a random force of nature; survival is equally accidental. Each loss is an occasion to remember that survival is a gift.” – Harriet McBryde Johnson I am haunted by the thought of James Kim’s last hours. Haunted. Haunted. I can’t …
Take a long walk to China
“In dwelling, live close to the ground.” – Tao Te Ching When Emma was little—probably around 2 or 3 years old—I got some wise advice from a friend. “Get on your knees,” he said, “and ‘walk’ around your house in that position to see the world as Emma sees it. …
Fly away
A recent post chronicled the journey of a young woman named Meta after her death this past September. The journey of Meta and her family, her friends, those of us who are now privileged to know her story…. In addition to tens of insightful, heartfelt, touching comments that followed on …
Read Skirt!
Several months ago, the publisher of the beautiful Skirt! magazine wrote to ask if she could publish one of these 37days essays in their December "Soulstice" issue. You’ll find what she chose here. [By the way, this photo is of a bracelet I had an artist make for a dear, …
Forever hold your penguin dear
“Death ends a life, not a relationship.” – Jack Lemmon Emma and I watched “March of the Penguins” for the first time on Saturday night. I know the whole world has seen it by now, but we hadn’t. Mr. Brilliant had to leave the room; even though he is a …
Be conscious of your treasures
“The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you.” – John E. Southard In the U.S., this week marks our Thanksgiving holiday. A vegetarian, there will be no turkey on my table, but plenty of that congealed cranberry sauce from a can, …
Listen to writers
Turns out, it really is true. We all get 15 minutes of fame. Unless we are in a writing group that has to split that 15 minutes by the twelve of us, in which case our fifteen minutes is down to around 2.5 minutes per person. [I know the math …
