Category Archives: Family

Monday Musings: Random Thoughts About Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. It is, and has long been, one of my two favorite holidays of the year, along with Passover, the Jewish holiday that marks the coming of spring. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both occasions revolve … Continue reading

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Photo Friday: A Bit of Late Fall Color

Fall foliage is well past peak color here on the Cumberland Plateau, as it is in most parts of the country. But there are still vivid splashes of red and yellow clinging to branches. This Red Maple, a species also … Continue reading

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Monday Musings: Feeding Birds, How to Get Started

Earlier this year, in the midst of spring bird migration, I wrote about my lifelong love of birding. I shared with you what birding has meant to me over the course of my life, and at the end I made … Continue reading

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Photo Friday: Reflections of Fall

Yesterday, I hiked out to a pair of lakes near our house — ones I have photographed several times before this year. I was hoping to find calm waters, interesting clouds, and a bit of fall color. I wasn’t disappointed. … Continue reading

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: Real-World Influences On Our Fiction

It’s also possible, particularly with our world as fraught as it is right now, that the sheer gravity of real-world events and conflicts will pull your story in directions you don’t want it to go. These influences are powerful, but … Continue reading

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Monday Musings: How I’m Coping

I’ve written about politics and social issues a lot in recent weeks, and I want desperately to avoid doing so again this week. It’s not that I don’t have more to say. I do. But I feel as though I’d … Continue reading

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Monday Musings: Covid, Grief, and Lies

And yet, his first act upon returning to the White House was to make a Mussolini-esque appearance on his veranda and ostentatiously remove his face mask. Last week’s Photo Friday post was about my brother’s memorial service, which took place … Continue reading

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Photo Friday: Three Years Ago This Weekend

Three years ago this weekend, we were in Massachusetts at Wachusett Meadow, a Massachusetts Audubon Society wildlife sanctuary, for a memorial service honoring my brother, Bill. This glorious site was one of his favorites in the world, and we dedicated … Continue reading

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Photo Friday: Three Butterflies

Butterfly season is winding down here in Tennessee. We may get a few fall species before the weather turns cold, but many of the summer regulars are gone now. We had a slow start to our butterfly watching, but in … Continue reading

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Monday Musings: A Planet In Its Death Throes

Pray for the forest, pray to the tree, Pray for the fish in the deep blue sea. Pray for yourself and for God’s sake, Say one for me, Poor wretched unbeliever. — James Taylor, “Gaia,” from Hourglass This is what … Continue reading

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