Food, Family, Friends and Fellowship

My brother called last Thursday morning to wish me a happy Thanksgiving and inquire if I had plans. More on the plans in a few paragraphs, but we somehow got on the subject of foods eaten during our childhood. The not-good-for-us foods. My brother didn’t remember the Velveeta macaroni and cheese mom and dad made from scratch during lent and his better half bellowed a big “Ewww” when I recounted how dad made fried-in-butter bologna sandwiches on Wonder cardboard whiteRead more

#SoCS – Filling Frames

“The key to happiness is not to get more, but to enjoy what we have and to fill the empty frame of our lives instead of enlarging it.” ~Albert Szent Gyorgyi~ I like this – a reminder that I have plenty to work with inside my own frame and don’t need to turn an 8×10″ into 20×24. Friday reminded me that I have special people who make up part of my life’s photograph…spending the morning with a friend who IRead more

The Measure of Humanity

In a beloved episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, a cyberneticist arrives on the starship Enterprise with the intention of dismantling Data, the android, for scientific discovery and for the goal of creating more androids like him. Data would not survive this, and when he tries to give up his commission as an officer so they cannot order him to submit, Data is told he is not human and cannot make that decision for himself. He is a machine.Read more

Checking in with Priorities

“Instead of saying ‘I don’t have time,’ try saying ‘it’s not a priority,’ and see how that feels. Often, that’s a perfectly adequate explanation. I have time to iron my sheets, I just don’t want to. Changing our language reminds us that time is a choice. If we don’t like how we’re spending an hour, we can choose differently.”― Wall Street Journal Let me be honest. Blogging hasn’t been a priority of late. I could say that I don’t have timeRead more

#WATWB: The End is not the End

“Ends are not bad things, they just mean that something else is about to begin. And there are many things that don’t really end, anyway, they just begin again in a new way. Ends are not bad and many ends aren’t really an ending; some things are never-ending.” ― C. JoyBell C. In early 2017, two women – Damyanti Biswas and Belinda McGrath Witzenhausen – came up with an idea for a monthly blogfest that would promote positivity and light inRead more

Be Who You Are

Cheers to being who you are! The title of this post comes from a Sunday sermon, but I’m not here to impose Jesus upon you – although, what I’m about to say not only comes from who I am, but also from my spiritual heart. Many of you know who I am to some degree – Biker chick (both Harley and bicycle); cat lover; animal lover; beer and chocolate taste-tester; lover of outdoors and all things Star Trek and NCIS;Read more

Christmas and the Gift

“And when we give each other Christmas gifts in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, and the earth with its forests and mountains and oceans–and all that lives and move upon them. He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused–and to save us from our foolishness, from all our sins,Read more

Origin Story

I went back to physical church this past Sunday after one year and four months of watching the weekly service online. It was weird – the smaller attendance, the lack of the usual treats and coffee that were always present, and saying hello to people I had not seen since I was last inside the building. One of those people was Brenda, who is a very sweet soul and who I have helped with volunteer opportunities in the past. OnRead more

Changing…Evolving…Acclimating

“If you can’t acclimate, you disintegrate.” – Katie Kacvinsky I learned the art of acclimation working for a state government agency for many years. I often called our agency the Department of Change because we never sat still. Policy and procedures were constantly evolving and employees were expected to acclimate. We had no other choice. Monday, May 10th, was a day of change, a day I became fully vaccinated and celebrated with a walk-and-talk with one of my pastors as he willRead more

#WATWB: Health Equity in the U.S.

For this month’s We are the World Blogfest, I’ve chosen to spotlight the Director of the White House’s Covid-19 Health Equity Task Force. Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, who is an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Yale School of Medicine, has a huge task in front of her as she addresses disparities related to the pandemic and how people are treated for the illness. You can read about Dr. Nunez-Smith and what she hopes to accomplish HERE and HERE.Read more

#SoCS: I Have Questions

In the end, it’s not about how much we do, but how we do it. I’m not stating anything new or profound. Mother Teresa said, “It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing.” My beginning as a blogger started in March of 2013. It’s difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that I’ve been dazzling and/or boring you with the written word for almost eight years. Lucky you. ItRead more

We should look…

  “Sometimes we don’t look. We don’t much look.” ~ Buck Cannon, The High Chaparral TV Series ~ Buck was referring to the positive things he had recently learned about the American Indian, aside from the conflicts of the time. If we judge other humans based on ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, political differences, general appearances, disabilities, or some other illegitimate reason, then we are not looking much. Instead, we make assumptions, succumb to fear or rumors, join the unenlightenedRead more