After a spring-like day yesterday, today we are back into winter. I heard the change roar in around 11:30 last night. Things outside began banging or rolling or whistling. I have never liked hearing the wind. My sympathy is with the animals in that. Wind makes them nervous and I can understand why. I’ve heard […]
When Vesuvius Blew Its Top
Yesterday, I watched a documentary about Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. It was fascinating and, although I certainly knew how the story ended, I was interested to learn a bit about the city before it was covered with volcanic ash. I had not realized before seeing this film that the citizens of Pompeii had several warnings […]
Song of the Lark
·Inspiration–writers get it, need it, thrive on it, and sometimes it is as elusive as a passing thought. Not only writers–we all are inspired by others, by deeds, by heroism, or…by pictures! On my desk is a very small replica of a very famous painting, “Song of the Lark” by Breton. I don’t know much […]
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. —— These words are in our Declaration of Independence. This morning, I am thinking about that first unalienable Right given to […]
Etta Bend Devotional–Tep Willis
Etta Bend Devotional January 18–“Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store” (Deuteronomy 28:5). My great-grandmother, Catherine Serepta (Tep) Barker Willis, was an outdoors person as was my grandmother and my mother. I can picture her now, wearing a long-sleeved blouse (she would have called it “waist”) and long skirts that reached the tops of […]
A Cache of Cozy Critters
·The sky is clear of clouds this morning. There’s a decided nip in the air but no frigid little breeze from the North Pole stirs last year’s leaves. It’s a perfect day for the gathering of Cozy Critters who trek to my home twice a month. It puts a spring in my step and a […]