Exploring the Third Season of Life

Notes from Vanaprastha

Reflections on Faith, Nature, and Writing

Recent Posts

Building a platform

Building a platform

A gentle breeze rustled the pages of my legal pad while I took notes on the bistro table—outside so as not to disturb Keith. On the other end of the phone was author and writing coach Lisa Romeo. After attending her reading at HippoCamp 2018, I’d purchased her...

Risk of Reaction

Risk of Reaction

A heavy blanket of fatigue wrapped around me as I read into the evening. We’d spent the afternoon running errands, so my weariness did not surprise. But then came the head and body aches.  At 8 o’clock, Keith asked, “Do you want to watch a movie or something...

The opposite of certainty

The opposite of certainty

While the remnants of hurricane Laura soaked the forest on Saturday morning, I sipped green tea and finished Janine Urbaniak Reid’s memoir The Opposite of Certainty. Reading about her brush with alcohol abuse in her teens and early twenties, I thought about the...

A timely parable

A timely parable

After letting the dogs out, I poured a morning cup of coffee and sat in the great room, iPad in my lap. First, I checked the weather then scanned social media—Instagram, Twitter, Facebook—sorted email, and read the headlines. It’s hard not to get discouraged by...

The Sting

The Sting

Cato puppy huddled in a tight ball on the floor of the front seat. Drool flowed from the sides of his mouth like two leaky faucets. He cried out in pain and began to shake. Was he going into shock? Would he die before I could get him to help? “Good boy, Cato, good...