Exploring the Third Season of Life

Notes from Vanaprastha

Reflections on Faith, Nature, and Writing

Recent Posts

The day the Lord made

The day the Lord made

It was mid-afternoon at the UVA Medical Center when I checked in with the receptionist. She asked, “Name?” I answered and handed her my appointment confirmation. The phone rang, and she picked up saying, “Please hold,” then asked me, “Date of birth?” I replied, and...

Keep Going

Keep Going

Remember the story about the little girl who played the piano at a recital and kept going despite obstacles and mistakes? My turn – and what an adventure! Last week my friend Sarah stayed with us for a few days. We had a grand time. The first evening, Keith treated...

Mothers

Mothers

As I drove south on 29 to visit my mother last weekend, I thought about Vivian Gornick’s Fierce Attachments, a memoir about the author’s relationship with her mother. Though younger than my mother, Gornick also grew up during the Depression and War years and was a...

Momentary Visitors

Momentary Visitors

It was another coffee-scented morning. I was sitting in my reclining chair and reading when I heard my cell phone vibrating on the writing desk across the room. Walking over to its charging station, I saw ‘Keith’ on the screen and picked up the phone. “Hello,...

Snakes

Snakes

Last week while weeding Japanese stilt grass out of a bank of groundcover, I reached for a clump of grass near the rock flow below the square foot garden. Less than two inches from my hand, a fat snake slithered sluggishly into a hitherto hidden passageway in the...