If Not For The Stairs

I could live by the ocean,if not for the stairs… or linger amongst ancient ruins,although climbing, I daren’t… and seaside dining is best, I agree,if not for those lofty flights The only up these legs can dois resting on the sofa most nights. (Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge is stairs or steps. I added a fun […]

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V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #42: farewell

As you read this, Ric and I will be saying farewell to Texas and our cozy home on the canal. We leave behind new friends, the countless birds who have so entertained us, and the beautiful Gulf Coast. I am both excited to be home, and sad to end our time here. But isn’t that […]

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Weathered and Still Shimmering

The candy shop across the bay, has weathered many storms. Fresh-made caramel and toffee, homemade chocolates and vintage sweets, appeal to kids of all ages – especially this one. Two years ago this island town was hit by a hurricane, and there are signs of devastation everywhere, but the butler on the porch of the […]

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To All Aspiring Dads

” I’m worried about my generation, Mom. There are so few male role models to set an example, how are we supposed to know how to live our lives?” My son was fifteen when he shared this concern with me. Having watched his own father turn his back during our divorce, and witnessing the same […]

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V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #40: Things My Father Said*

(* or any male of influence growing up.) I can’t count the number of times my father’s words hover over me, even though he’s been gone since 2005. He was the king of platitudes – constantly quoting (and making us recite) the works of Dale Carnegie, or Norman Vincent Peale. “Mind over matter,” he’d say […]

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Bursting With Colour

Along the Rio Valley in Texas the birds burst with bright colours. For Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week Challenge: Colorful

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V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #39: Unanswerable

“I always start with questions that I can’t answer. Otherwise you get bored halfway through if you already know the answers. If you’re asking what seem to be unanswerable questions, then you have to keep showing up.” – Barbara KingsolverFrom A Talk in the Woods, by Kevin LarimerFeatured in Poets & Writers, November/ December 2018 […]

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What Is In a Name?

A touch of history, a personal insight, a vision – all of these form the basis for how we have chosen to name our blogs. Reading the back stories has made this one of my favourite challenges. Each of us has put thought and care into finding names, an act that speaks of our dedication […]

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V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #34: reaching

“…she singled out a cedar, wide at the base, narrowing as it grew. If there was any kind of portrait worth doing, it would be the portrait of a tree. But a portrait had to convey character. The channels in this cedar’s raw umber all stretched upward, reaching toward light. It was more than a […]

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An Upside Down World

Two things happened this week, that sent me into a spiral of despondency. Two postings, actually, by people I consider friends. It’s not that I believe we should all share the same opinions, it’s that I would hope we are open to discussion. I guess, in retrospect, I am an idealist – I want the […]

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