loving the mystery

  Last Thursday, I drove by a house that almost took my breath away. I parked my car and walked down the old tree-lined street, from the house to downtown Burlington, imagining what it would be like to call this home. I’ve been looking at houses around the area for several years, but none have…

I give Up

Being in pain, and wanting help, are not the same thing. When I was actively drinking, I was in a lot of pain. It was mostly emotional, but I had particularly awful hang overs, even when I didn't drink very much, so I suffered physically too. Over the years, I tried everything that I could…

goodbye to a limiting way of thinking,…hello to a friend

I've been wanting to write this story for a while, and finally I am. I first met Maud Maynard in 2009, but I'd heard about her, and had been briefly introduced to her, in 2002... but I didn't want to have anything to do with her. Not because she wasn't a perfectly nice, possibly interesting…

New beginnings

Thank you everyone for the blessings and wonderful wishes for Tom and Lindsay's wedding. It was better than I could have imagined,... in every way (and I will be posting a picture when I get them). Possibly every family has a couple of members who are not easy around each other, and I am no…

Learning to listen

A couple of days ago, Jack and I attended the opening of the Saratoga Arts Fesitval. They were showcasing several artists, and he was one of them. I had a bit of a hard time deciding what to wear; nothing really seemed to fit me all that well. I finally made my decision, but in…

what can I bring?

My father and I are taking a trip today, but this time I will be doing the driving. He turned 87 this year, and I'll be 57 next week. When he asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told him that I would love to go up north (to the Saranac Lake/Paul Smiths…

A good plan and a hair crime

A while back, I wrote about my 85-year-old mother wanting to get a computer and me nixing the idea. I really couldn't imagine her learning any new technology (since she has never shown the slightest interest in anything like this before now). Well, she decided she was going to get one and asked Amanda (her…

Ask…. and let go

Just about 10 years ago, I was craving a trip to the ocean...the warm, light blue-green clear water felt like it was calling to me. The trouble was, it wasn't calling to Jack. I tried to talk him into going, but he didn’t want to; said we couldn’t afford it, and wouldn't talk about it.…

The Roadblock Prayer

I saw my mother the other day and she loved my new haircut, and said that she wanted to get a similar one. She then asked me to make an appointment for her with my hairstylist, Liz. While I can enthusiastically recommend Liz, I felt a little twinge of discomfort thinking about setting the appointment…

Keeping it simple: feeling my way through life

  The simple beauty of paper by paper artist, Calvin Nicholls (his work is breath taking!) http://www.calvinnicholls.com Over the past few years, I've let some people go from my life. Not that I hadn't ended relationships in the past, or had them ended by others, but this has been very different; I have "gently" let…