wandering mind

We have established a nightly reading ritual over the summer vacation. Several nights a week we read out loud from a book picked by one of my daughters. We all take turns reading. We are reading a book called ' Zen and the art of Faking it '. My husband was a bit unsure about it in the beginning, but he seems to be enjoying it now. We also try to find and list any words that either of the girls don't know the meaning of, and it goes on the assignment sheet for next day for them to learn. Once in a while we come upon some words that I don't know the meaning of as well (like geodesic) and it goes on their list of the words that they have to explain and teach to mom the next day. Very rarely we find a word that my husband doesn't know the meaning of and we are all amazed since he is Mr. Dictionary around the house. Anyways, this reading ritual is fun and educational for all of us. A couple of nights ago, as my daughter was reading it, we happened upon a line "I d...

My 12 year old daughter has invited us into her thoughts and dreams . I like what she writes, but I am , of course, biased. Please stop by when you have a moment to provide encouragement and constructive criticism. thanks,

Well, my backyard doesn't quiet look like that, but it does back to the woods and has some wildflowers and wild berries. I have taken to spend good part of my weekend mornings on the deck lately. It is so peaceful - if I could bottle up that calmness and put it at my desk at work and open and release some every now and then I would have a much better work week. But for now, I just make do with the visions of the calmness and look forward to weekend mornings when I can recharge and refill. Anyways, last Saturday, as I was sitting outside, sipping on my ginger tea, I smelled this nice scent of wildflowers - maybe lavender. I inhaled deeply trying to place the scent. It was good. I thought since I am spending more time outdoors, I have awakened and sharpened my senses and I can pick up on these subtler smells - it felt good. Oh man - I was truly one with nature. I sat around enjoying my newly developed senses and sipping ginger tea - oh the bliss. Suddenly something dawned upon me - ...

When I was a little girl I had great compassion for anything living. I used to feel for flies who would drop in the water and would struggle to get out. I used to try to get them out on a leaf and leave them in a sunny place to dry. They would dry in a few minutes, rub their legs and fly off. I used to feel very good about saving the lives of these unfortunate flies. That was then. Back when I didn't worry about what diseases they might be carrying. Things have since changed. We have developed a fruit fly infestation in my kitchen. I have a little container under the sink where I store all the stuff that goes in the compost bin - vegetable peels, egg shells and stuff like that. Last week, a horde of fruit flies appeared from somewhere. I have had this container for more than a year now without a problem. So now I take it out to the bin in the backyard everyday instead of waiting for it to get full. Anyways, last night I was walking around in my kitchen with a fly swatter trying to ...

on main street in Annapolis, MD on July 3rd You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. ~ Erma Bombeck

Red is redder Orange is oranger Kids are adorable Puppies are cuter The clutter becomes invisible All the sharp edges are smoother The next work day is light years away The slightest evening breeze stirs passion The sunset is prettier The late evening beckons you outdoors All kinds of sins are forgivable Life is beautiful After just two glasses of a good merlot!!!!

I know - too many posts about berries already, but this is something that I had to share with you. I didn't even know about mulberries until my friend introduced them to me. One day we were out walking at lunch time when she exclaimed, pointed and started munching on these things right off the tree. After being assured that they were edible, I joined in the fun as well. We visited that tree as often as we could at lunch time while the berries lasted. We could only reach a few of them as most of the branches were out of reach. You should have seen us jumping to reach branches way up there, loaded with ripe berries . We did get a few weird looks from some passersbys , but hey if they had tasted those berries, they would have joined in too. Then my company moved to a different town and the mulberry tree stayed behind. It was good while it lasted. Imagine my joy when I saw a little patch of the trail near my house all stained with purplish, blackish stuff. I looked up and sure enough t...