Paper Mountain – #Flash4Storms
On Tuesday, I usually run a flash fiction written in response to the weekly prompt from Charli Mills over at Carrot Ranch Communications. Weekly flash fiction prompts are taking a break in the barn for the time being as we kick off this month’s Flash Fiction Rodeo over at the ranch. I still have a…
OTV Magazine – Trusting Life’s Detours
Want to know a sure-fire way to get me worked up during the morning school drop-off run? Traffic detours. It seems like they are everywhere lately. Life has a funny way of regularly throwing us off our intended route. That has certainly been true of the last several years in my life. Sometimes, though, that…
Anticipating Harvest
Where did he go, she wondered, when he left her? His retreat was much more than physical absence. No, this separation ran deeper. He left not only her, but himself and the world as well. While he remained in that suspended state, efforts to harvest even the slightest sprout of affection from him proved fruitless;…
Riptide
Sometimes when I stand on the rocks, the water is gentle. The sun throws splashes of daylight stars to tickle my feet. Other days, the water is playful. The breeze laughs, blows bubbles around my ankles and knees, pretending these small waves can topple me. On darker days, the water churns by swiftly, and it…
Waiting on Disaster
Last week’s headlines were filled with disaster. Hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes…and much more. Terrible. As I listened to days of updates, I couldn’t help but wonder what it must be like to sit squarely in the path of destruction. How it feels to know with certainty that it will affect you or your loved ones. How…
Breaking Radio Silence
I know. It’s been quiet here for a while – a long while. Nearly silent, in fact. I didn’t intend to go anywhere. I just…did. I said to someone last night that when I take a break from my writing, it tends to happen without my knowledge or my consent. This is exactly true and…
Reigniting Your Passion – Open Thought Vortex
Good morning, friends! Ever feel like your passion has fizzled? That your zest for life could use a little boost? As we cruise through these days of late summer heat, let’s talk about how to turn up the heat and get your passion burning again. I’m over at Open Thought Vortex today…come join us! Source:…
Ain’t Life Grand: Family Celebrates Everything – Open Thought Vortex
We often think of celebrations as those occasions when we gather with family or friends for a particular holiday or life event. Those occasions are filled with their share of both joy and angst. (Come on, you have a family…you know it’s true.) We keep coming back, though, because underneath all the family humor and…
Balanced Perspective
Hello, friends, and happy July to you! I’ve spent some unplanned time away from this space lately. It’s only been about two weeks, but it feels like much longer than that. My absence here has not been for any particular reason other than just being about the business – and busyness – of life. The last…
Finding My Summer Groove
Summer is here. We’re only five days in by the calendar, but around here it’s been summer for nearly three weeks since Zilla’s school year finished in the first week of June. It’s nice to be finished with packing school bags and lunches, scrambling for clean uniform parts, dealing with homework assignments and projects and…