When my childhood friend returned home from vacation, I’d run to her house and ask about the trip. She hiked in the mountains and slept in a tent and fell asleep to night sounds of crickets and tree frogs and hooting owls. They cooked meals wrapped in foil and roasted marshmallows on sticks. Fascinated, I asked my parents one night, “Can we go camping?” It was … [Read more...]
The Christmas Clown
My mom would tie a garland of plastic holly to the stair railing and pull out a ball of fake mistletoe that she’d have Dad hang from the ceiling light in the hallway. We’d plug in plastic molded candelabras with orange bulbs and place them in the sunroom windows. We’d drive into town and pick out a tree from the Methodist Church lot set up on Main Street and haul it … [Read more...]
On Being a Writer – Surprise!
A week ago, I accompanied my dad to several appointments, muting my phone to comply with the doctors' office rules. To stay focused I left it muted all day long, so from 8:00 in the morning until 8:00 at night I was only vaguely aware of texts and notifications. I'd glance at the phone when I was able, to identify the person and level of urgency. I let calls go to … [Read more...]
Book Response: Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers by Leslie Leyland Fields
When I picture my two college-aged daughters at their universities, sometimes I imagine them lying across their bed or in the hallway of their dorm, discussing their peculiar childhood and frustrating parents. After all, the college years mark the first time most young adults have moved away and gained some distance and perspective. It's when they can think back over their … [Read more...]
Tomorrow Night, Marshmallows
When my childhood friend returned home from vacation, I’d run to her house and ask about the trip. She hiked in the mountains and slept in a tent and fell asleep to night sounds of crickets and tree frogs and hooting owls. They cooked meals wrapped in foil and roasted marshmallows on sticks. Fascinated, I asked my parents one night, “Can we go camping?” It was … [Read more...]
Pursuing Your God-Given Dreams
As a boy, my father-in-law, Clement (also known by his English nickname, "Bud"), accompanied his dad to some remote African villages where they planned to distribute a small quantity of leaflets with a message of the Bible in French. The family served as missionaries in what was then known as Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC), where Bud was born and … [Read more...]
Not So Fast at Soul Stops, Pt. 2
If you're moving a little too fast today, feeling rushed and stressed, I encourage you to take two minutes to listen to the following song. I suspect you'll be grinning by the time the Smothers Brothers step in to help with the ending, and you'll feel far more relaxed, even groovy: [youtube_sc url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBQxG0Z72qM"] When you've settled … [Read more...]
Not So Fast at Soul Stops
I overheard one of my daughters talking with her sister on the phone: "Well, hurry up," she said, "but don't break any laws." Despite over a decade of committing to a slower, more sustainable pace, "hurry up" has crept into our family's vocabulary. Then again, perhaps it is our more relaxed pace that prompts this call to speed things up a bit? I wrote a book about … [Read more...]
How to Form a Daily Habit: Don’t Break the Chain
My junior year in college, I started scribbling each day's to-do list the night before. I'd always include "wake up" so I would have the pleasure of marking off one item first thing in the morning: a visual sign of accomplishment. I've always joked about how pathetic it was to include "wake up," but I needed to see that I made progress. Decades later, I want to … [Read more...]
Simplify Life with Habits
“You need a rut to run in.” When I read that years ago in a book about home education, I bristled. A rut? People get stuck in ruts and never change, never take risks, never explore new possibilities. Ruts feel like tedium. Monotony. Boredom. Ruts seem unimaginative and unattractive. Everything in me yearned to break out of any rut I might run the risk of tumbling … [Read more...]
Need Inspiration? Don’t Just Sit There – Do Something!
Whatever your profession—writer, designer, editor, entrepreneur, writing coach, consultant, educator, farmer, parent—the turn of the new year reminds us we're looking at a fresh calendar full of possibilities. How do we make the most of it if we're lacking creative inspiration? Stefan Mumaw, creative director at Callahan Creek and author of Creative Boot Camp, said in … [Read more...]
Developing a Writing Life: Five Writing Strengths
Writing well requires a range of skills and strengths. Hopefully, I have developed many strengths over these 25 years as a professional writer. For fun, I shall explore only five that contributed to my developing a writing life. Five Writing Strengths 1. The ability to sit still for long stretches of time. Not everyone can do this, you know. Some people get … [Read more...]
Food on Fridays: Douwe Egberts Coffee
For the Food on Fridays carnival, any post remotely related to food is welcome—though we love to try new dishes, your post doesn’t have to be a recipe. We’re pretty relaxed over here, and stories and photos are as welcome as menus and recipes. When your Food on Fridays contribution is ready, just grab the button to include with your post. It ties us together visually. Then … [Read more...]
RV Trip West: Grand Canyon
Though we’ve been back for a while, I’ll write about most of our trip in present tense. It’s more lively that way. Pretend I was sending back postcards and letters that got lost in the mail and arrive long after we’ve returned home. We arrive late afternoon at the Grand Canyon, just in time for lovely lighting. The overlook with protective railings … [Read more...]
RV Trip West: Winslow, Arizona (Standin’ on a Corner)
Though we’ve been back for a while, I’ll write about most of our trip in present tense. It’s more lively that way. Pretend I was sending back postcards and letters that got lost in the mail and arrive long after we’ve returned home. "Hey," I say to my husband as we leave Petrified Forest National Park, "Winslow, Arizona, is just down the road. Can we stop? … [Read more...]
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