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
She folds towels like the mom I watched as a child — aligning corners, sweeping her fingers across the terry, smoothing before flipping for a final fold, her accomplishment culminating in a smile of satisfaction. Before dementia, her folds had purpose, a mother caring for her family. Now she folds while not knowing why. A … Continue reading A Practice Run to the Finish Line
“‘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 snow is expected, but the sand is not. In the recent post — That was Unexpected! — I shared how snow along the edges of an agave, a sight recently but rarely seen in South Texas, reminded me of snow along the edges of sand seen on a recent trip to Colorado. This post … Continue reading Remarkably Unexpected
During the week that followed Thanksgiving I considered the condition of the ranch, and it was a contemplative exercise. Compared to most of the country, the foliage in South Texas changes color late in the calendar year, if it changes much at all. That the calendar sits open to December and the Texas red oaks … Continue reading As a Child
It was two o’clock on Sunday when the summer sun was high in the sky, baking the blades of grass that were already brown, thin, and parched from lack of rain. But my eyes were not on the ground as I drove through the gate and gazed across the ranch. I searched for the familiar … Continue reading Clouds on a Summer Sunday