Suburbia & Shootings
“Smell! Do you smell that?” We were standing at the open deck door, our toes hanging over the white edge. He sniffed fiercely, his tiny shoulders rising with the effort. “Rain! Doesn’t it smell good?” The wind blew droplets into our faces and we inhaled the moist earthy scent of rain. Hints of hot…
When You Wonder if He Hears You
It’s a striking image. A stately government official in his mid-eighties, perhaps with distinguished silvery hair, standing on the banks of a large river, dressed in flowing Middle Eastern robes. His colleagues and lower-ranking staff have suddenly fled and hid themselves in the long grasses, terrorized by a presence they can’t see or explain. An…
Summer Barbecues and Family Times
I sip hot coffee while barbecue smoke seeps deliciously in through my open deck door. Marco sings along to a plaintive song on Pandora, monitoring the sizzling grill outside in between chopping jalapenos for colorful pico de gallo. Orange and brown afghan fort walls flap outside on the front lawn, while my daughter and preschool…
Tearing Down Walls in Marriage: One Woman’s Story
“Here’s your assignment for the week,” the counselor told my brown-haired friend. “Touch his arm.” My friend couldn’t believe it. Sitting in the counselor’s office, she hated to hear this advice. “Husbands need lots of touch,” the marriage therapist reminded her. “This week, I need you to touch his arm.” “It took me two or…
Guest-posting over at “Chasing Silhouettes”
I’m guest-posting over at my online friend and writer Emily Wirenga’s Chasing Silhouettes website today, a “place of hope and healing for families and caregivers on the eating disorder journey.” Join us there to mull over “How to Be Beautiful” and feel free to leave an encouraging comment. If you are visiting here after my…
Dandelions, Thistles, and How Do You Grow Faith?
I bike to my new yard, a yellow child trailer bouncing along behind me. This is it! The new home. Earlier, a friend, in black “blinged” flip flops, and I, in brown bejeweled sandals, walk in measured paces across the knee-high grass. Counting feet and meandering mildly-haphazardly through the dandelions, we guess at the dimensions…
Kid Bedtimes and Gathering Storms
Grey clouds blanket my evening sky. Wind-tossed trees are now still and a heavy mugginess descends. Swollen drops pockmark my deck, and then nothing. Like silence before the curtain rises, the yards wait quietly. A slight breeze stirs the leaves and a distant car muffler hums and fades away. Silence again. My three year old…
Buckling Into, Not Buckling Under
He sits belted in familiar confinement. Spying his worn blue car-seat downstairs earlier, he had heaved and tugged it partway up the stairs, clunking, crashing, and grunting until I helped him. “You want your car-seat upstairs?” I asked, surprised. The child seat had been left in the entryway temporarily, in between car shifts. “Yes! Tant…
Dad’s Driving
Photo credit Buttery salmon-avocado sushi pairs with spicy-sweet sliced ginger on my tongue. A delicious aftertaste spurs me eagerly on to the next slice. Mmm, fabulous. Scalding mint verbena tea from the coffee shop here scares me just seconds away from it touching my tongue and I lower the cup, preferring to wait. I dropped…
Romantic Gift Ideas Like a Dead Goat & Key Lime Pie
Photo credit “Oh, by the way,” as I kissed his cheek hello, “you bought me a slice of key lime pie and a coffee for Mother’s Day. Thank you,” I grinned. My man smirked at me, slightly quizzically, as I walked in the door from studying at a bookstore coffee shop last night. Now I…