Interstate 10, Texas

Driving across Texas a few days ago, I was awed by the sweeping distance and the wild sky. I keep thinking about how big the mountains were, and how they, in turn, were dwarfed by the clouds. Each mile along Interstate 10 brought another amazing view, all the way to California. We have nothing like it back in Connecticut, where trees crowd the hilly roads of my home, and I felt like I was roaming a new planet.

As a writer, I can take my work with… Continue reading →

Boxing Day in Connecticut, 2015

I’m enjoying some family time these days. We take walks, play Scrabble and Dominion, light candles, eat fabulous meals, read books aloud, work puzzles, lounge, and laugh. My people keep arriving—singly, in pairs, and with dog. The warm dynamic shifts each time like a happy, human fabric of belonging. I’m one of the blessed, for certain.

I wish you and yours peace, joy, and love.

When news of another mass shooting hits, I feel sick. Civic responsibility leads me to stay informed, to look up the details, and then I check my Twitter feed to find people are praying and asking for stricter gun control laws. Thousands are banding together peacefully to oppose the gun lobbies as part of a longterm remedy for unwanted violence, but then I see the responses by some people who defend their rights to own guns, and they are so viciously angry that I’m appalled. So much unreasoning, vindictive anger… Continue reading →

As I pause from writing today, I’m struck by how bright and pretty the sunlight is streaming across our dining table. Our mantel clock ticks out the steady silence. In the fridge, a turkey is covered with a spicy rub. I’m grateful for my peaceful home, my kind friends, my kids coming soon, my relatives far in miles but close in heart.

Little moments feel so large sometimes.