Published inThe Haven·PinnedMember-onlyLies my Mother Told MeThat’s a Tomato Plant, Sweetie — I was proud of that “Dare to Say No” T-shirt that mom picked up at the JS (that’s what we called any of the myriad of thrift shops where we bought all our clothes except for shoes and underwear (it’s short for Junk Store). An impressionable, eager to please kid…Humor4 min readHumor4 min read
Published inThe Creative Cafe·PinnedMember-onlyGive Sorrow WordsWriting the stuff that hurts I have an essay that went live this week. I wrote it months ago and I’m happy that it’s found a good home. …Writing Memoir4 min readWriting Memoir4 min read
Published inP.S. I Love You·PinnedMember-onlyDarling, Meet my BoyfriendA story of loving two men — It wasn’t love at first sight or anything so profound. Instead, it was a gradual process of getting to know one another. Nigel was a biologist. He’d written his doctoral dissertation on the milkweed bug. I learned many interesting facts from Nigel. When I complained about the critters that were…Relationships3 min readRelationships3 min read
Published inSNAPSHOTS·Jul 26, 2021Member-onlyBackyard in BloomI always take my camera when I walk the dogs or go to a park. You never know what you’ll see. A gator, a snake, a wood stork, a strange…Photography2 min readPhotography2 min read
Published inCrow’s Feet·Jul 21, 2021Member-onlyApps Are UsHow my phone became my BFF — We had a black rotary phone on a small end table in the living room. If I picked it up very carefully and held my breath, I might be lucky and our neighbors, our party-line, wouldn’t know I was listening in. …Nonfiction4 min readNonfiction4 min read
Published inSpiritual Tree·May 9, 2021Member-onlyNature’s ArtistryIt’s not always pretty — Spiritual Weekly Prompt1 min readSpiritual Weekly Prompt1 min read
Published inILLUMINATION·Mar 23, 2021Member-onlyPandemic DiariesWhat’s changed in a year? — As a home care nurse in Baltimore, I learned years ago how to get in and out of a house without touching any surface with my bare hands. My first AIDS patient had open sacral wounds and explosive diarrhea. …Covid-195 min readCovid-195 min read
Published inCrow’s Feet·Mar 10, 2021Member-onlyGive me a SignTo make up my mind — Phyllis had always had a difficult time making up her mind. Her mother never gave her much chance to practice, and so that particular skill just never fully developed. Regular or decaf? Chocolate or vanilla? The white socks or the blue ones? Simple choices people make hundreds of times every…Fiction4 min readFiction4 min read
Published inInspired Writer·Mar 10, 2021Member-onlyMy Writing Critique GroupWhat do they know? — I met them at a writer’s conference, my first ever. They have become my muses. The people I go to for inspiration, validation, celebration. There were 12 of us in a memoir workshop at Writers in Paradise, the annual writer’s conference at Eckert College. Each of our 25-page submissions were…Creative Non Fiction4 min readCreative Non Fiction4 min read
Published inInspired Writer·Mar 6, 2021Member-onlyI Don’t Believe in SpankingBut once, I did it anyway — He was in love with the crossing guard. Each day, when we walked the two blocks to take his sister to kindergarten, he would watch in rapture as the guardian saint of children held up her white-gloved hand and commanded the cars to stop. To his three-year-old eyes, that was…Parenting4 min readParenting4 min read