Long Hollow

Where seeds of thought have room to grow

recent posts

about

Realtor, writer, blogger in Austin, TX

Category: Hitting the road

  • Simplify! (and my Saturday Sweet Report)

    "Simplify, organize, simplify…" a small voice has been chanting in my head lately, making it difficult to concentrate. So when my friend Gwen invited me to add some of my things to her garage sale this weekend, I jumped on the chance to de-clutter. By yesterday morning, my car was loaded with two large boxes for the…

  • “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…

  • Dancing, friendship, butterflies and the Jake Carr Band…

    Tom and I ventured into enemy territory Friday night: we went dancing in College Station. Considering we have one University of Texas graduate and one still in attendance, that's tantamount to treason around here. (College Station is the home of Texas A&M… UT's arch-rival.) But we had a good reason to go there! We went…

  • On November (and my Sweet! Report)

    Today is the fifth of November. How can that be? Does anyone else feel the swoosh of time flying by?  If I'm not careful, with just a blink it will be December Eve. November is full of writing challenges – novel writing, nonfiction writing, blogging… Why? Who decided this was a month to focus on writing?…

  • A Top Notch Day

    It started like this… Belle's face peered in from the pre-dawn darkness, much earlier than usual. I had just stumbled from the bedroom, still groggy with sleep. She seemed nervous about something. Stepping outside, I knew right away what had her up so early, wanting our company… …The frogs had a croaking chorus coming from…

  • Sweet Reflections on a Sunday Morning

    Dear God, Thank you for this day, for letting me wake in Mam-ma's room, surrounded by so many sweet memories. Thank you for the sounds of Daddy, moving around the kitchen, and the rumbling thunder outside, a promise of rain on this parched land. Thank you for this time with my Mama and Daddy, and…

  • Retreat to the Sea

     For whatever we lose (like a you or a me),  It's always our self we find in the sea. ~e.e. cummings   For the past few weeks, I've felt like a jumping bean, hopping from one project to the next, never quite finishing one before moving on to another, mentally filling to overflowing a shelf…

  • From the Port Aransas “Secret Files” (and a week’s worth of Sweet!s)

    For twelve years now I've trekked to the coast with friends for a much-needed respite from "routine". Two years ago, a beautiful weekend was made unforgettable: Laura Bush spent the night at the same condos we were staying in. I wrote about it (HERE), but didn't post the photos my friend Donna took with my camera of Laura…

  • A Weekend of Reunions

     "Be the first to hit the dance floor." ~ Love, Dove Finding this in my chocolate wrapper today made me laugh. I'm frantically tying up loose ends and scratching to-do's off of lists so I'm ready to hit the road with my Lago girls first thing in the morning. Today is the eve of our…

  • September, Oktober(fest) and my Friday Favorite Photo

    "By all these lovely tokens September days are here, With summer’s best of weather And autumn’s best of cheer." -   Helen Hunt Jackson, September, 1830-1885   Wednesday night, alone on the Bistro patio after a special banquet, I bent over to un-velcro a small cushion from one of the metal chairs. Triple digit heat had given…