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,...

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 saw...

A little Kumbaya

In last week’s post, I wrote, “We are all in this together.” Sunday. Trying to get home, to work, to somewhere other than where we are, Grand Rapids. Then Monday. No one sang Kumbaya. I stood in line at the airline check-in counter for an hour, checked my bag, cleared...

We are all in this together

Yesterday morning at 9 am, I checked out of the Grand Rapids Comfort Inn and boarded their airport shuttle. American Airlines’ alerts sent to my phone had indicated my 11 am flight was “on time.” While the driver navigated the slush and ice-covered streets with...

New Paths

The landscape crew arrived a week ago to carve a path up the ridge to the flat rock-outcropping. For three days, dodging rain and chill, they cut and shored up a zig-zag trail. They had created many paths before, including steps, terraces, and walkways on our...