Long Hollow

Where seeds of thought have room to grow

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Realtor, writer, blogger in Austin, TX

Category: Inspiration and Heroes

  • Good boy, Max.

      "Dogs’ lives are too short. Their only fault, really." ~ Agnes Sligh Turnbull     He wandered up to our house from the woods almost 11 years ago, a not-so-small puppy with crooked ears and a face so black you could barely see his eyes. We never found out where he came from, but…

  • Moving forward, but not forgetting…

      Lord, take me where you want me to go;Let me meet who you want me to meet;Tell me what you want me to say; andKeep me out of your way. – Fr. Mychal Judge, FDNY (died 9/11/01)     Every year in late September, early October, I head to the coast with a group…

  • Surprises…

        “God put us here, on this carnival ride. We close our eyes never knowing where it'll take us next.”  ~Carrie Underwood   There are good surprises, and there are bad surprises. Years ago I met a woman who impressed me with her beauty and bubbly personality. I didn't know her well, and haven't…

  • A Rollercoaster Ride with Max

          Two days ago I knelt beside Max and whispered in his ear that it was okay if he just let go. I told him he had trained Belle well, and she would take awesome care of us, and if Charly was close by, asking him to come play, that it was okay.…

  • Sisters (and other sweet!s)

      It would have been intimidating growing up with such a beautiful big sister if she had been the type to criticize or belittle. But I was blessed with Brenda.      Sure, she liked to tease me sometimes, and even lost her temper with me once or twice, but given that I was a…

  • Old puppies, morning walks, and other sweet!s

      Whether it's the heat or just old age catching up to him, Max has gone down a pretty steep hill lately. Just last week we took the long walk, around the curve and down into the creekbed. But now he can't walk far before having to stop and rest. Our walks have gotten shorter…

  • Daughters (and other sweet!s)

          They grow so fast, don't they? One minute they're crawling around on your stylish-at-the-time-rose-colored carpet, exploring and investigating… picking on their older brothers, trying to stir things up…cuddling in your arms because they're still shorter than you and easy to pick up… …and then suddenly they're wanting to explore far beyond your…

  • Ky, my friend

      “It was an odd friendship, but the oddnesses of friendships are a frequent guarantee of their lasting texture.” ~Ford Madox Ford   First thing this morning,  my heart was broken. I was preparing to do my homework for a class, had barely started eating my cereal, when I checked my email and saw the…

  • The first Father’s Day…

      Old as she was, she still missed her daddy sometimes. ~Gloria Naylor     For the first Father's Day in years and years, I don't have a phone call or road trip to make. Tom and I have both lost our dads, and, well, I have kind of a lost feeling today. I'm glad…

  • Happy birthday to the best mother-in-law in the world…

      Tom and I were driving up to Maryland for the first time so I could meet his family and childhood friends before our wedding. It was my first time in Tennessee, the Carolinas and all of those other states between Texas and Maryland. What a fabulous trip – seeing the sunrise just outside of…