V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #63: ripening

September 9, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Drooping under the weight of their ripening fruit, our tomato plants have escaped their cages. Wax beans are losing their green tinge, and zucchinis, stretching across the narrow garden bed, are full of promise. Even though we planted late this year, there will be something to harvest. The anticipation is killing us, and yet, we […]

A Child Glows

September 8, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Child,delightful youth,my heart’s jewel,you are light-bearer,hope for the future – antics haphazard,laughter contagious,spreading joy,sparking imagination – I pray that your spiritremains joyously vibrant,that reality dawns gently –polishes the radianceof your glow. *** I wrote A Child Glows in November of 2018 in celebration of my granddaughters. I have edited here, slightly. Image from personal collection. […]

A Caption for Reena

August 12, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

“Honey, I think I might know who has been stalking us.” Reena’s Exploration challenge this week asks us to caption the photo.

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #60: belief

August 5, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Growing up, my mother told me over and over that I was not loveable. I heard it so often, it became a personal truth. I didn’t examine or question it until my former husband told me, after seventeen years, that he didn’t love me, had never loved me. Of course, I told myself, I am […]

All Worth Mentioning

August 4, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

The things that inspire us,a moving read,steps we have takenepiphanies,perceptions,quotations,magical spaces,truths,a kiss…all worth mentioning. Thanks to all who participated this week! Word-Whelmed WomanProsceniumReena SaxenaStuff and what if…one letter UPSgeoilAWISEWOMANSJOURNEYparallax See you tomorrow for a new challenge! (Featured image from personal collection and available through Society6 and Redbubble.)

V.J. Weekly Challenge #58: Just When I Thought…

July 22, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

Just when I thought I knew where we were headed, life threw another curveball. It happened simply enough. Ric experienced a brief period of blindness in one eye. “Just the bottom half of the eye,” he’d tell the doctor later. “And some weakness in my left arm.” The family doctor recommended a trip to Urgent […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #57: Presence

July 15, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

“Isolation threatens to consume me,” I tell my therapist in a recent visit. “I’m not willing to disappear into the woodwork again.” The doctors say my illness is relapsing; it’s how they explain the onslaught of infections. I’ve just finished another round of even stronger antibiotics. While my immune system fights invasion, I am staving […]

Shadows Speak

July 14, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

Shadows stalk our conversations, Mother and I. It’s not so much what is said, but what hovers between the lines spoken. Fear stalks her – death so close – and I sidestep darkness. It’s an illusion, of course, this thought that we can think ourselves well, or avoid pain by focusing only on the light. […]

A Dog Knows

July 9, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

A trip to the river never fails to surprise –this dog with life-jacket caught my eyes. Ready, he was, to set off downstream,happily dependent on his human team. (Lens-Artists have left their weekly challenge open – the perfect chance to share this sweet photo story with you.)

Resilience

Boxes are filling up around us. We’re making a dent in our to-do lists. Doubt seeps in. Are we doing the right thing? Then I remember all the reasons behind making this choice and affirm: We are dismantling one life to build another, purposeful existence.

Monday Mood: squirrely

The movers need to be arranged, and the closets sorted and packed, and when was the last time we bought groceries…. Head and attention are going in too many directions at once, and I’m exhausted before I get started. Might be a little cranky too. The stress of moving is real.