Long Hollow

Where seeds of thought have room to grow

recent posts

about

Realtor, writer, blogger in Austin, TX

Category: Hitting the road

  • Wimberley Market Days, Cypress Creek, and other Sweet!s of the Week

      Cypress trees towering overhead. Harsh summer sunlight softened, transformed into a magical golden glow that bounces off the glassy surface of a creek and dances on the surrounding tree trunks. Hours to float in cold, clear water under that lofty green bower, to talk and talk and talk with friends in a busy outdoor…

  • Almonds and other sweet!s of the week

    He was dirty and carried a cardboard sign ever closer to my car that said something like "Homeless Need a Job Hungry God Bless."  I focused on the "hungry" and rolled down my window. My son was with me, so I felt safe. "Would you like some almonds?" I asked, holding out a snack-sized ziplock…

  • She’s still here… and other sweet!s of the week

    I slipped through the trees on the narrow deer trail as quietly as possible to check on the mama duck and her duckling this morning. At first glance, the pond was empty. But earlier this week it appeared empty, with only a lone feather brushing the shore. I thought for sure something bad had happened…

  • …whispering hope

    I sat on the porch swing this evening listening to David Gray and watching the cardinal couple dine at the feeder. Just as the sun slipped below the trees, I felt myself slipping, too, into worry about the future. But right away I hit the brakes and scrambled back up to reality. It hit me…

  • The Art of Relaxation

    One September about twelve years ago I made a phone call to a previously unknown-to-me condominium complex in Port Aransas, Texas, and reserved a three bedroom condo on the 5th floor. I needed to escape. Not a permanent escape, of course. Just a few days all to myself, where I didn't have to cook anything,…

  • The Tie that Binds

    There came a time in high school when I was tossed out of my comfortable social nest. The group I had identified with for years…clung to like a raft in the treacherous middle and high school seas…wrapped around myself like a safe (I thought) cocoon…well, they decided one day that I just didn't belong with them anymore. I racked my…

  • Ah, Mother’s Day…

    For the first time in years, I actually saw my mother on Mother's Day instead of telling her how much I love and appreciate her via a card and a phone call. It meant missing church and spending hours on the road Sunday morning, but Daniel (middle son) awoke early enough to send me off…

  • Hello There

    Has anyone even missed me? For the past few days, I've been holed up in my office, focused in a way that's unusual for me, fueled with determination to finish editing photos from a shoot last month. (I know! Shame on me for taking so long! I do have the relatively good excuse of getting…

  • Vintage Airports, Engaged Couples, Dark-Eyed Juncos, and other Sweet!s of the Week

    We've known him since he was a baby, but when Justin gets married next month we won't be at the wedding. He and his beautiful bride-to-be Pati are tying the knot in Mexico, and as much as we'd love a few days at an ocean side resort, we just can't swing it financially.  That's why…

  • 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…