Lately, I’ve been pondering the concept of perseverance, its roots, its costs, and potential outcomes. When does perseverance bleed into obsession? When does commitment become corrosive? Is perseverance always a positive quality? I seem to have inherited a healthy (or unhealthy) dose of perseverance from my mother, which lately has begun to feel like a…
Is it the journey or the destination that matters? Last month, my husband and I walked the Sanders-Monticello trail outside Charlottesville with his parents. The four-mile round-trip walk through the forest on a well-constructed wooden pathway was lovely and relatively easy. Little did I know, it was inspired by Thomas Jefferson himself. “Of prospect I…
This blog is about inspiration. We all have our go-to activities or places when we need to be inspired or uplifted. For me, usually a hike or a trip to a new (or old) place or spending time with family (even if just memories of family) will rid me of the blues. If I am…
The past can scream at us in unusual and instructive ways. An avocado-colored refrigerator is a bygone token from the late fifties or early sixties, reflecting the sleek and modern amenities of the time. Now, we chuckle at the quaintness of these antiquities. This particular photo is of the Medgar Evers family kitchen at the…
A few years ago, I visited Boulder, Colorado, and hiked the trails in Chautauqua Park. The evergreen trees that patchworked over those razor-sharp hills took my breath away (literally). I had almost reached the peak when I came upon this steep and rocky road. Winded and fatigued from the previous few hours of my frolic…
What do Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, and Jerry Lee Lewis all have in common? Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a Black musician from Arkansas who played the electric guitar and sang the blues and gospel. She toured with Muddy Waters in 1964 in England and is said to have influenced Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Keith Richards…
