Long Hollow

Where seeds of thought have room to grow

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Realtor, writer, blogger in Austin, TX

Category: Books

  • Breakthrough – my word for 2025

        In "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent", Gary Keller says "Natural ability can only take us so far. No matter how gifted we may be, each of us will eventually hit our own ceiling of achievement. There is no if to that assertion, only when. So the most important achievement question you may ever…

  • On Hearts

      Man has made many machines, complex and cunning, but which of them indeed rivals the workings of his heart? ~Pablo Casals   I had just stepped into the last house on a property tour when it happened: my heart seemed to turn a somersault, I nearly passed out, and the pounding started …as in,…

  • Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a bunch of sweet!s

        The sky put on a grand finale sunset outside my window as I started reflecting on this past year.  However, it doesn't take a lot of reflection to know that 2018 will go down in history as one of my favorite years. It's the year I became a grandmother!    Watching Little C…

  • “Is, then, September come so soon?”

        Is, then, September come so soon?Full time doth summer ne'er abide?While yet it seems but summer's noon,We're floating down the autumn tide. ~Eunice E. Comstock, The Atlantic Monthly, October 1873   Is it just me, or did Summer just set a new record for "Fastest Season Ever"?  Temperatures are still climbing to 100 degrees…

  • Bluebonnets, Easter Dresses, Essays… and other Texas springtime sweets

      Spotting my first bluebonnet of the year is always exciting. I know that the drab winter days are giving way to longer, warmer days of spring, wearing wildflowers of every color.    Full disclosure: these photos are from years past. While I've enjoyed the sight of bluebonnets decorating the roadsides this year, I haven't…

  • Happy birthday, Belle! (and other sweet!s)

        Eight years ago, while we were mourning the loss of our sweet Charly, a litter of puppies was born in east Texas.  Whether the mom was a pure-bred who had a wild fling with a stray, or she was a mixed breed stray herself, we'll never know.  We do know that a few…

  • Postcards from Greece, Dragonflies, and other sweet!s

     Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragonflyHangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky. ~Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Silent Noon   This morning as Belle and I finished our walk, a dragonfly buzzed close, circling and circling. It even hovered about a foot from me for a few seconds, providing me a good look at its…

  • He’s still here… and other sweet!s

    Tom and I once spent a week in a downtown Austin high-rise which had fabulous views of the city. It was especially beautiful at night, with the Texas State Capitol and other downtown buildings all lit up. Unfortunately, that high-rise was Brackenridge Hospital, and Tom wasn't in any shape to appreciate those gorgeous views. He was recovering from…

  • An Acceptable Time

      The phrase 'an acceptable time' has been popping up lately on the fringes of my consciousness. There's a Bible verse about "an acceptable time" which refers to salvation, and a Madeleine L'Engle book of that name, which I've been intending to read for years, but still haven't yet.    But I finally finished a…

  • Peace Begins with a Smile

          I think it's time, don't you? Somewhere I read that everything we do, every simple action or word, sends an energy into the world, either positive or negative, ultimately contributing to either war or peace. We can point fingers and lay blame, but to some degree each one of us carries that responsibility…