On our way to a concert in Chapel Hill my girls and I ran through the drive through at that Most Holiest of All Fast Food restaurants (you know the one). As we wound through the line and passed the gigantic glass-enclosed petri-dish called a play set, my daughter said “I wish we had known … More The Last Time
The first two days of 2023 began with a thick fog blanketing the landscape, and it has lingered throughout the mornings. It’s the type of fog which makes it hard to see any distance at all. It’s not the all encompassing pea soup of the coast, but rather one which gives you small windows of … More Into the Fog
It’s as cliche’ as cliche’ can get but I’ll say it anyway: this year absolutely flew by. A year ago we loaded the moving truck and were on our way to NC from Oklahoma. 2021 ended with us coming home after 5 years, and though we were sad to be leaving family and friends behind, … More It’s the End of the Year as We Know It and I Feel Fine
It’s not a very stylish clock by modern standards. It has a definite Victorian vibe to it: made entirely of oak with lots of turnings and carvings. It was my Grandparent’s, on my father’s side, and once hung at the far end of their living room, just to the right of the window which housed … More Keeping Time
Earlier this spring I sat on our screened-in porch and breathed deeply of the air. It was clean, crisp and clear – the way air often is after a spring thunderstorm. It was sweet, rich, full, encompassing. And it was familiar. As I breathed in I was transported back to my childhood, back to my … More The Power of Memories
I knew it was bad but I didn’t want to believe it was that bad. Yet deep down I suspected it was. I shoved the thought away with every uncharacteristic wobble, every meal skipped, every pound lost. In the end, it was shocking but not unexpected: our beloved dog Chewy had a tumor on his liver, … More Saying Goodbye
For the first time in several years I’m attempting a Bible-reading plan. There are myriads of reasons why I haven’t done one the past few years, some of which I’ve written about, some of which I haven’t. Suffice it to say I’ve had a very tenuous relationship with the Bible the past few years. Lest … More Desert Panting with Job’s Friends
After we moved into our home here in NC we found ourselves in need of a new washer and dryer. This was not a surprise, as we had sold the set we used in Oklahoma to our landlord when we moved out. They were bought used (at a great price), and had served us … More Life, Laundry and the Love of Parents
As I made a 3-point turn to go back and check out the “House for rent” sign we just passed, my daughter literally shouted from the back seat “Oh my God, look at the trees!!!!” I smiled and saw where her eyes were gazing: a line of long leaf pines standing fifty-plus feet in the … More Place Matters
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19, ESV In what was already a busy week, Ash Wednesday came on like a banshee and was nearly gone without … More Dust and Ashes
The Wading Pool 