Color Amid the Snow

I’m cranky today. Snow on either side of our driveway is piled about crotch-high, the remains of numerous snowfalls since the beginning of the year. This winter in the Twin Cities has already been one of the snowiest of all time. Yet the weather service predicts...

Searching for Words in a Fog

There once was a woman of age Who struggled to honor a page With some nourishing words Ones that sang, flew like birds, But alas! She was never a sage. (And such hopes are so often a cage.)   Plus it’s winter, it’s cold and it’s dark, And her mind must be locked...

Solstice Blessings

I’m posting a little early this month to honor the winter solstice, and to send love your way during this holiday time.   The longest night of the year. Sitting still in the darkness what might I hear? Do the stars warble? Does the candle whisper a message?...

On Thanksgiving

I’ve always loved Thanksgiving. I loved the food, the emphasis on gratitude and harvest, and the gathering with family and/or friends during a time of increasing cold and darkness. I never believed or highlighted the national myth around the holiday in these...

Halloween Trick Becomes a Startling Treat

I hung up the phone one October day in 1976 feeling both dubious and intrigued.  Flattered to be asked, I had agreed to tell fortunes at my brother’s Halloween party since I loved Halloween almost as much as I loved him.  But sometimes Tom’s idea of fun and my own...

A Mystery of Childhood Mementos

I wish I’d remembered to take a photo of my childhood jewelry box. When I was about 8 I wanted one with a ballet dancer who twirled en pointe when you opened the box—all the rage at the time. Instead, my parents gave me one painted with French poodles sitting at a...