One of my favorite quotes by a writer trying to explain the drive to write is from Flannery O’Connor: “I write to discover what I know.” I love this quote for its optimism, especially whenever I have writer’s block. I’ll let this quote guide me through a meandering trail of thought about what I might…
I am so grateful for this photo of the moon setting over Moloka’I, taken from the western shores of Maui as I hiked to a sunrise yoga class a few years ago. A Hawaiian beach is not the image typically used to express gratitude at Thanksgiving. I realize, as we approach my favorite holiday, that…
If you’re a man in the early 1970s with a baby blue VW bus, you’re going places. If that baby blue VW bus has calico curtains with gingham trim, you’re going in style (or you have a wife who thinks it’s stylish). If the back of that blue van is covered in stickers from camping…
The instinct to create the future by honoring the past dwells inside each of us. I recently toured The Whalehead Club (for the umpteenth time) and learned of a woman, a sage, who recognized the value of the house’s dozen or so Tiffany designed and lily-shaped, sconce globes and tucked them into the attic for…
I visited New York City in September 2018 for many reasons: to enjoy a play, to attend a fundraiser, to meet up with a lifelong friend, and to refresh, reinspire, and renew my writing spirit. I snatched this writing hiatus with great enthusiasm. I strolled (or hiked with less intensity) into Central Park, vowing to…
In 2003, I traveled to South Africa with my uncle and a group from his church to volunteer at a small children’s mission called the “Door of Hope.” The mission was a safe haven for infants who might otherwise be abandoned. The country was in the grips of the HIV crisis and the social support…
