Long Hollow

Where seeds of thought have room to grow

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Realtor, writer, blogger in Austin, TX

Category: In the News

  • Simple Sweets

      Steve and Lisa, a couple in my church, took it upon themselves to form what they call a "hospitality" ministry several months ago. Almost every Sunday they prepare and offer some special brunch item after each Mass. Just the two of them.   Today it was French toast. Yum! They also offer fruit in…

  • Five Things

        1. Last year I took my kids to see The Hobbit  right before Christmas. We loved it so much, we decided to make it a Christmas tradition by seeing Part 2, "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug", last night.  Our consensus? It sucked…and I don't use that word often or lightly. I was…

  • Five Things on Friday

    1. I've captured Belle leaping three days in a row now. All I had to do was write about how I kept getting distracted at the last minute, and BOOM! now I stay focused. It took about fifty years, but I've finally figured out how to manipulate myself. How do you trick, er, train yourself?…

  • Five Things on…Saturday

       1.   Do any of you still have your landlines? I've been so tempted to cancel ours…but then I remember the agonizing two months we lived without it when we first moved into this house in the country, and how our cell phones only worked outside, up the hill a little bit. How I…

  • Sons, Sunday mornings, and other sweet!s

    I'm not proud to admit this, but I missed church this morning because of the rain.  Right about the time Daniel and I were going to head out the door (Tom was still snoozing!) – already running late because we had to let the terrified dogs into the laundry room – the break in the…

  • Be Still

      It was a gray morning, the sun not yet able to break through the clouds above the Hollow or the dark thoughts clouding my brain. Worries and what-ifs mingled with sorrow for the people of Boston and scenes of the explosion in West were fresh in my mind. My feet tread a familiar path…

  • Five Things

    1. What a week full of tragedy, heartbreak, and heroism. First the bombing in Boston and subsequent acts of unselfishness and goodness that proved only light can conquer darkness…and that there's plenty of light in Boston. We witnessed it in the behavior of all of its citizens. Next, the explosion in West, Texas, so close…

  • Five Things on a Friday Night (when I should have been dancing)

        1. My crape myrtles are budding! I'm really surprised because we haven't had much rain and the poor things haven't bloomed in two or three years now. I wasn't even sure they were still alive. I've got my fingers crossed they've somehow established themselves enough to give me some summer color later on. 2. I…

  • Monday, Wind-day

          The wind is howling outside my window right now. No snow. No rain. Just wind, gusting up to 59 mph, the weatherman said. In some areas of Austin power lines are down and whole trees are blocking roads.  We're lucky. Nothing but the exhilarating wind here blowing through the Hollow, like a…

  • My Pencils are Sharp Enough

      I slept a full eight hours last night. And I cleaned my bathroom this afternoon. Two things I haven't done in a long, long time. That's about all I've accomplished today, but I'm okay with it. It's my day off and I've relished it. Middle son, Daniel, is home for the weekend, mostly because…