The doors are propped wide open. Outside, spring raced with the posture and speed of a roadrunner. This year, the redbuds flowered in storms of intense pink petals, rivaling my childhood memories of strolling under cherry blossoms at their peak. Windflowers on the hilltops (Anemone, berlandieri) and the endemic variety deep in the gorge (Anemone, … Continue reading Inside… For Just A While
My friend’s phone rang. When she answered, another friend asked, “Is Karen just devastated?” The bark looked the same. Skin of decades. Protecting. Rough and furrowed. Covering — like lined up and laid out potato chips, the wavy edges lifted as if exfoliating, peeling open trails that if followed could share stories from every season. … Continue reading A Tree is Nice
He is Risen. Known. Believed. Loved. HAPPY EASTER
I stood at the edge of the gorge and glimpsed spring. The grass was dead and matted but through the brown blades popped purple and white flowers — anemones. Single flowers atop a slender stem, Anemone, berlandieri, are among the early spring bloomers in the Hill Country. They are lovely, ranging in color from white … Continue reading Go Shake in the Sun… with Exhilaration
Happy Thanksgiving! Take a walk. Look closer. (Can you find the Thanksgiving guest in the photo below?) Set aside your troubles. Marvel at the little treasures in nature. Appreciate the days. Don't be afraid. Enjoy the beauty around you. Celebrate the harvest. Gasp at God's glorious creation. Let your light shine. Spend time with friends … Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving 2018!
“‘But,’ said his father, stopping in front of the drawing-room window, ‘it won’t be fine.’” Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse The day to begin the tile repair arrived… and so did the thunder, lightening, a downpour, and three tornado emergency alerts. Since the fateful … Continue reading All in a Day… or Two
The turn in weather started with a hint. I glanced across the yard toward the horizon, and the sky appeared glaucous — a lusterless bluish-gray — the perfect word to characterize the mood. Glaucous? Really? Why not use the word blue? The word Glaucous has both Latin and Greek roots. In Latin, glaucus means gray … Continue reading Design and Life — Rolled and Double Munched
Oh, little bird, why did you visit — to entertain, to prick, to haunt, to teach? To hear each spring the birds announce the return of familiar flowers, longer sunlit days, and a cast of budding greens, awakens my senses to pay attention. That a wren announces this intensity of life is no wonder. Compared … Continue reading Oh, Little Bird, Why Did You Visit?
The steers were agitated, squaring off and shoving each other while butting their heads and stamping in circles. The ruckus was an all out longhorn brawl. With our eyes wide and our mouths open, Jimmy and I perched on top of the dam — somehow believing twenty sloped feet between us and the fighting longhorns … Continue reading Meet Sweet Ferdinand: All 102″ TTT
"The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected." — Robert Frost Like an alarm bell, the sprouting sedums announce the passage of time. Could it be more than a year since the first post on Take Comfort? I had three reasons to start this blog: To share stories with my kids; to challenge myself … Continue reading Take Comfort: A Year Flew Softly By