Long Hollow

Where seeds of thought have room to grow

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Realtor, writer, blogger in Austin, TX

Category: I love being a Realtor!

  • Thank you, 2017… Hello, 2018!

    Whether we want them or not, the New Year will bring new challenges; whether we seize them or not, the New Year will bring new opportunities. ~Michael Josephson   Can you believe another year has come and gone?  2017 will be unforgettable for me in many ways. I visited Las Vegas again, thanks to the…

  • December Sweets on a Christmas Eve…

        It's Christmas Eve. I spent most of the afternoon baking cookies and making fudge. It was my first attempt at baking gluten-free, and I have to admit, my Cyclops Cookies turned out as fabulous as ever. God bless who ever developed the 1-to-1 gluten-free flour!  I finished up just in time to make…

  • 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…

  • Harvey’s blowing us a kiss… (and a few recent sweet!s)

        Name the season’s first hurricane Zelda and fool Mother Nature into calling it a year. ~Robert Brault   Throughout the night I woke several times to the sound of heavy rain outside my window. And this afternoon on my back deck, I watched as the wind swooped hard through the hollow every few…

  • 35 years!… and other sweet!s

        "I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life." ~Rita Rudner   If you haven't guessed, it's been 35 years since that Friday the 13th when Tom and I said "I do" to a lifetime together. It's actually tomorrow, but…

  • 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…

  • Mother’s Day, Husband’s Day, and other May Sweet!s

    About 50 years ago, this little cutie was collecting turtles near the Magothy River …pretty much having a Tom-Sawyer-like childhood in the Maryland woods where he grew up with his 8 brothers. He just turned 60, but still loves playing in the woods around our house, discovering and observing wildlife, and he still looks pretty dang cute…

  • 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…

  • Believe

    Here we are, more than halfway through January already, and I still haven't taken down my Christmas tree, much less shared with you my word for 2017. Tonight, I decided sharing my word was more important than taking down the tree. That can wait until tomorrow. Or heck, next week. (I'd leave it up all year,…

  • As 2016 drifts away…

        So I'm sitting here sipping champagne, listening to fireworks in the distance, thinking about 2016. There are only a few hours left of it, and while it brought heartache, it also brought many moments of joy.  I lost my mom this year, but I was able to spend a lot of time with…