Then and Now I don’t often take the time to go through old family photo albums, but recently I sat down and opened them to share with some of my girlfriends. We giggled and pondered all the phases of styles and seasons one goes through in a 70-plus-year lifespan. After a short time, I closed them and returned them to their designated shelf, but not before holding back the single one of me taken when I was [...]
Grace in an Ornament The house was quiet as my husband lay sleeping, and in the background, softly, was moody instrumental Christmas music. It was the dawn of the day before Thanksgiving, and I determined to have my tree dressed before the weekend festivities began. The bin of ornaments opened on the dining room table gave me easy access, and one by one, I unwrapped the tissue-wrapped treasures, strategically placing them on the wire limbs. Occasionally, I’d [...]
Years ago, with a desire to decorate the long but narrow balcony of our home, I purchased a 5-gallon Ficus Benjamina plant. Tucked in the corner of the west end of our house, it offered a focal point for an otherwise floating space. For years, it was there. It never died; it never grew. It just was. From time to time, I would determine that something needed to be done with it, but nothing ever was until [...]
Not more than a handful of days ago, I stood at the edge of my balcony and told God how grateful I was that everything in my life was going so, so good. After pondering the beauty of the canyon, the flittering birds, and the bounty of a beautiful San Diego summer, I came into the house and said to my husband, “I am just so thankful for our lives. I love our home and the sweetness [...]
My husband and I moved into our canyon home in June of 1988. We both loved it from the moment we walked into the front door. Cathedral ceilings in almost every room, most offering a set of French Doors that took us to a balcony that overlooked a sprawling, yet intimate canyon, and a front door that was hidden from the street gave us a sense of living alone in the sky. It was perfect for us. [...]
What for many years was an unpleasant task, last year I determined would be an opportunity for reflection and observations and so I did that again this time. The dismantling of the Christmas décor would take on a new meaning. I threw away the brittle branches of the Costco wreath and made a note of where I stored the S hook used to hang it so that I wouldn’t be on a hunt for it this coming [...]
Recently I received a text message from a dear friend of mine who has been fighting a very difficult cancer battle. This particular day would bring her to the beginning of a three-day series of chemotherapy and she knew going in, it would be a tough run. I assured her I would and stopped immediately to pray knowing full well she would be in my heart for the duration of this session. To date, I have never [...]
Several years ago, I purchased a pot of beautiful, lush, succulent plants. Over time, and most likely due to poor choice of placement and my frequent bouts of neglect, they began to wither and die. But I read somewhere that even though they appeared to be trash-worthy, I’d better think again! There was plenty of life left if tended to in the proper way. So, I followed the restoration instructions by doing a little pruning and relocating [...]
The Great Exchange After several decades of calling San Diego home, my friend prayerfully concluded it was time to move. Already established in her new Georgia zip code, she had returned to clean out the remaining belongings in her recently sold house. With furniture in every room, paintings on every wall, cupboards, and closets neatly filled with typical inventory, and stuff stored from under sinks, to bins suspended in the garage rafters, any help was greatly appreciated. [...]
The Brave Path You’ll get no arguments from me. I’m not an adventurous person. I was not raised in a home that traveled to obscure campsites, seaside, mountainsides, or any other sides. The biggest adventure I can remember that came from my childhood was when we as a young family packed ourselves into a 1961 Chevrolet and headed west to San Diego, California from Waukegan, Illinois. Ah, that’s not altogether true. But close. When we traveled, we [...]