Ruminations
Mother’s Day 2022
For three days we snuggled in our private hospital room, staring at each other. I had never felt this kind of connection to anyone. I devoted my entire being over to this tiny beautiful creature who needed me so much. I knew my heart was not my own anymore.
Read MoreThe Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
A few days ago, I received an email from my father that made my heart clench. At ninety-five, he is part of a dwindling number of WWII veterans, in his case one of Hitler’s teenage boys conscripted to the army. He fought on the beaches of Normandy, was wounded, and captured.
Read MoreWhat I Have Learned This Year…Chasing my Dream
Remember when you were a kid and you saw “old folks” who looked at everyone and everything in a suspicious and angry way that made you wonder what awful thing had happened to them? Maybe they felt as if the world had passed them by and nothing could possibly go right anymore.
Read MoreIn Giving Thanks
It’s not a bad idea to always be grateful for those we care about. Not only our spouses, parents, pets, and children, but also those people who enrich our lives in many small ways that we typically do not think about and who leave small or large holes when they are suddenly gone.
Read MorePresent-ly
In the ten years I’ve been studying Buddhist philosophy, the one true thing that I have gleaned is awareness. I can’t say I’m more peaceful, or kinder, or wiser. But I do know that I can learn to be fully aware of the results that my actions create, which may eventually serve to make me kinder or wiser and let me live peacefully.
Read MoreBook of Regrets
Fear is that corrosive rock of despair, the opposite of “that thing with feathers.” It’s a feeling of disorientation. Space shifts. Time warps. I start thinking about crazy stuff, like noumenon vs. phenomena and questioning what reality really consists of.
Read MoreThe Tower
My mother’s family hails from a historic town in Bavaria called Sulzbach-Rosenberg. Built on a massive igneous rock, the town consists of uphill and downhill cobble-stone streets. The original section dates from the 8th century, and was once a vital center for the Palatine dukes and counts. A yellow castle sits at the very top of the igneous rock and looks out over the surrounding hills and valleys.
Read MoreOmnilegencia
Every week a question is posted to get our writerly brains to think and respond, which usually brings something to mind that causes me to ponder further. This week it was why do you write? The answers are across the board, but I have yet to see one that states: I want to write a Pulitzer Prize winning book, become filthy rich and super famous so I can live the rest of my life wallowing in success.
Do you know why?
Read MoreDear (Agent)
I admire those that self-publish. We have all heard about success stories. I’m happy for them and duly impressed. But it’s not me, at this time. I was delighted to take that route with my children’s books. I wanted total control over my books, including the illustrations. My goal was to benefit dogs and help instill the love of reading in children.
Read MoreA Tribute to Barbara Koski Maxwell
R.I.P. Barbara Koski Maxwell. Barbara was one of the most interesting and warmest people I have ever known. Over the course of two years we offered readings at local schools, libraries, and literary events. While I read, she drew sketches of the entranced children and handed it to them at the end of the reading. She was the rock star, always.
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