I know this sounds a little trite, but I am truly blessed... Not because I am working more than full time, but because I have the work. Not because I have two jobs, but because I love both jobs. Plants and words have been a huge part of my sanity my entire life. Not because my body argues with me on a regular basis, but because I have a functional body to argue with. Not because I have nine grandchildren, but because I am building relationships with them and feel loved by them. Not because I have been married to my husband for 31 years, but because we like each other after all this time. Not because I own a house, but because I have a home. Even though I feel overwhelmed at times, and it seems like there is never enough time (or money) to do what I want, my life has so many blessings. As I write this, I am sitting at my desk looking over my laptop out a northwest window at a gorgeous maple clinging to its few remaining yellow leaves, attempting to prolong the summer. A dry crinkled leaf drifts past my window, and then another, and another. Farther out is a tall pinwheel weather vane calmly spinning its red-tipped white blades in the cool fall breeze. All of … [Read more...]
Collecting seeds
It seems like all I can talk about is gardening. That's not the case, but I'm going to do one more blog about gardening before I move on to other things. This wonderful fall weather has made it easy to gradually ready the yard for winter, rather than breeze through like a whirling dervish to complete everything over one weekend. It also has allowed for me to collect seeds from the various annuals I planted. One of the most interesting vines I planted this year was the Egyptian pea vine. The seed is a very interesting black pea with white tips, and the vine is spectacular, shooting tall branches into the air with purple flowers littering the top. I planted it around the mailbox and in the corner of the chain link fence, which added beauty and grace to the yard. The seeds were easy to collect, with large pea pods containing three or four seeds each. The pods were purple when forming, and turned a shiny brown as they dried. I have many more seeds than I can use. Maybe I will try to sell some of them... Another plant I am collecting seed from is morning glories. I know it's not necessary because the morning glories reseed themselves like weeds, but I really like them. The … [Read more...]
November 1 words
Sharpen your pencil, or keyboard, or iphone or whatever you write with. This month's project is a creativity stimulator. The object of the project is to take the seven words posted each week and create a short story that includes each of the seven words. The sky's the limit, as long as the story is less than 250 words. Submit the stories to me and I will post them on this site. THIS WEEK'S WORDS: Orange, tree, sprinkle, mouse, gun, underwear and tissue Please submit your story through the comment box below. … [Read more...]
Letter 2
She stepped off the train, her stiletto heels clicking on the concrete platform at Union Station. Her slender fingers slid into her coat pocket to make sure the letter was still there. The letter is what brought her to Chicago in the first place.Her editor thought she was crazy when she burst into his office the day before, giving one day notice that she would be gone for two weeks. She could see the veins in his neck quickly enlarge through his dark brown skin, and his eyes narrowed as they always did when he was angry.“You can’t do this to me right now,” he said. “The story you are working on is too important.”But she had to leave for Chicago the next day. She didn’t tell him why. She just said it was a family emergency. “We’ll see if you have a job when you get back,” he said as she turned to walk out the door. All her co-workers had listened to everything, though they pretended to be working. Everyone had treated her differently since her husband died six months ago. It was as if they were afraid she would break if they talked to her. Maybe his sudden death brought mortality too close to home. She didn’t dare tell any of them about the letter for fear they would think … [Read more...]
