My youngest daughter and I went out to lunch yesterday.
It is so nice to talk about everything and nothing.
It is so nice to open up a space…and listen.

Listen to thoughts and dreams.
Dreams.
That was an interesting subject today.

Read More...

To this day, I have no explanation for what happened.
The children and I were going to church…everyone buckled in.
It was winter and there had been snow the day before.
The roads were plowed…snow packed down…the road salt hadn’t fully melted it yet.

You have to be aware of black ice where the snow had melted.
Black ice is deceitfully slippery.
We were driving down the road, approaching the intersection.
Today, this intersection is a four way stop…back then, it had only two stop signs.

Read More...

This was grocery shopping day.
The day when I take money out of the ATM machine and give it to the grocery store.
Yes…in the day of charge cards and debit cards…I still pay cash for our groceries.

For years, my husband has suggested that I charge the groceries.
I just never wanted to…paying cash always kept me on track.
If I charged our food bill, it would have been too easy to go over our food budget.

Read More...

I had to do a double take!
I came out of the store and saw the oddest sight!
I thought it was a person waiting for someone in the store.
Taking a closer look, it was a large dog sitting in the driver’s seat of a car.
His front paws were on the steering wheel.

He saw me and began to bark.
I just happened to be parked right next to him.
As I got into my car, the dog left his post and came over to the passenger side.
He continued to bark.

Read More...

There is usually a candle burning in my kitchen.
One of my favorite scents is Country Store.
It really does smell like its name.
Cinnamon, allspice…wonderful kitchen smells.

I usually burn one large candle a month.
After we decorated for Christmas, I realized I never bought my Christmas candle.
Christmas Tree scent…with a bit of balsam…perfect for this time of year.

Read More...

I sit here ready to write…wondering if this will even get read.
We are waiting for the hybrid storm…Sandy…to hit the East Coast.
There will probably be power outages…everything will be put on hold until power resumes.

I am also sitting here trying to type with a painful shoulder.
A pulled muscle, inflammation…pain.

No power.
Pain.
Somehow the two go hand in hand.

Read More...

A storm is predicted to hit the east coast this coming weekend.
It is being described as an unusual mix of a hurricane and a winter storm.
Steady gale-force winds, flooding, heavy rain, and maybe snow is expected.

Every time a storm is predicted…the magnitude of this one…I fill up a bathtub.
We do not have public water or public sewer in our immediate area.
When we lose power, we have no running water.
Filling the bathtub is a way to have water for the duration of the storm.

Read More...

There we were in the elevator.
We were all going up to the same floor.
We were going to a woman’s prayer time…for the next hour or so.

Elevator etiquette.
You look straight ahead…making sure you respect personal space.
You don’t talk.
You look at the lights as you climb…waiting for your floor number to light up.

Read More...

Sirens…such a disconcerting sound.
The other night the air was filled with them.
In our little town, the firehouse is less than a mile away.
We are used to hearing sirens when and if the fire department is ever called.

This was different.
This sounded like many alarms from neighboring towns.
I couldn’t tell if it was the sound of police sirens…which we hear on some of the country roads…or fire alarm sirens…responding to a call.

Read More...