Long Hollow

Where seeds of thought have room to grow

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Realtor, writer, blogger in Austin, TX

Category: birthdays

  • Mary Poppins and other Sweet!s of the week

    I would lie on the wooden floor for hours… or at least it seemed like hours… listening to my Mary Poppins soundtrack album, over and over. Asthma held my lungs hostage – each breath was a major accomplishment – so lying there listening to "Step in Time" and "Feed the Birds" was about all I…

  • Traipsing through Cemeteries and other Sweet!s

    It might seem unusual to wander through a cemetery on your birthday, but that's what I did yesterday. There's a small one dating from the 1850's down the highway toward Marble Falls. When I heard it was blanketed with bluebonnets, I couldn't wait to visit it. There's just something about wildflowers growing beside a headstone that…

  • The Day Before 53

    Butterflies flitted around me on my walk this morning, hopping from flower to flower too fast for me to capture in my camera. (The one above is from last week!) I imagined they were celebrating the beautiful morning… dancing a springtime jig of joy. It was contagious – I felt joy rising inside of me…

  • Kids, Jewelry, Birthdays, Weddings and other (belated) Sweet!s

    A rumble of thunder and whisper of rain woke me in the night. It continues today, another steady, soaking rain falling from a colorless sky. We've had enough rain in the past few weeks that I almost take it for granted, despite the months of drought. Almost, but not quite. Waking to the sound of…

  • A Birthday, a Graduation and Texas Heaven…

    We let Max sleep inside the past two nights. Belle, too, of course, although it was more for Max's sake than hers. They have a large dog house, nestled up against the house and the hill, protected from the elements, but even though temperatures were just in the low forties Sunday night, it was bone-chilling…

  • 26 Sweets (and then some)

      I was 26. I had felt the life inside of me, kicking my ribs, pressing on my bladder. Had heard the amplified swoosh swoosh of the heartbeat in the doctor's office. Had spent all night and most of the morning gritting my teeth and breathing heh-heh-heh through the waves of pain. And then, there…

  • Ssssh! Don’t Tell my Mom! (plus the Shutterfly winners)

    Life has gotten crazy busy. My oldest son and his girlfriend are heading here this evening, joined by a few of his 'old' college buddies who are driving in from Dallas. Tomorrow is his birthday and he's letting me celebrate it with him for the first time in years and years… well, since he left…

  • “The Best Laid Schemes…” (What happened to Monday and Tuesday?)

    According to my calendar, I'm in Galveston right now, visiting my friend Ann, finally getting to see the cute little Victorian house she's fixing up and browsing through some wonderful eclectic shops. Things don't always go according to plan, though, do they? Instead of strolling the tourist-free beaches and staying up late talking and laughing…

  • He would have been 64.

    Thoughts of my brother Buster flitted in and out of my mind today. My parents drove out to the cemetery as I'm sure they've done every October 16 for 29 years. As I'm sure I would do if I were in their place. I hope I'm never in their place. The following is a re-post…

  • Twenty-Three? How is that possible?

    "Daniel, you're going to be 23 in two days!" "Yeah, I know, mom." Whoa. That thought hit me while we were driving back from town two days ago. There I was, comfortably cruising along with him being 22, and next thing I knew, a whole year had zoomed by, just a blur out my window,…