Making Lists
This morning, the sun out competed the clouds and burned off pockets of fog. A cool breeze rustled the lush vegetation surrounding our house. I checked our rain gauge. Three inches. Good day to pull weeds, I thought, scrub floors, wash the dogs, do laundry, and...
Sense, Sensibility, and Stretching
Thunderstorms brought rain and fog to the mountain last week. Despite the gloom, our mountain laurels blossomed in what little sunshine we had. New growth thrived in the shade. Because of the weather, I sat at my desk more than usual, slouched like a hog going to...
The Times of Your Life
Good morning, yesterday You wake up and time has slipped away… After several days of rain, Keith and I woke this morning to sunshine and spring-green stretching across the Rockfish Valley. Through our open window, I heard bird calls and echoes from dogs...
The Cherry Tree—a Mystery Tale
Once upon a time, in a far-away land, there lived a man and his wife. They lived together in a city townhouse large enough for a family. In the small, fenced-in backyard covered by a deck grew a cherry tree. Every April, the tree produced a profusion of beautiful,...
Ch-ch-changes
“Cut it,” I said to my hairdresser last Wednesday, “I’m done.” I pulled at my tresses, which flew this way and that. “I can’t stand my hair, blowing around and falling into my eyes.” “All right,” my hairdresser said with undisguised zeal. She grabbed a styling...
Taming the shrew
Springtime brings flowers and critters back to Vanaprastha. Keith and I are seeing creeping phlox, bluebells and fothergilla, skinks, tiger swallowtails and hummingbirds. But no shrews except Katherina, the Shrew in Shakespeare’s so-named play, which Keith and I...