Category: Just Beauty

  • 1. Whew! I made it through May without a major random health issue. Why is that surprising? Read "There's Something About May" to get the full story, but suffice it to say that I get a little paranoid beginning on May Day because in four of the past five Mays I've suffered from some weird,…

  • Saturday morning I woke to the sound of rain. Lots and lots of rain. I staggered to my computer and pulled up radar of our area. A huge green and yellow blob was blinking its way straight for us. A blessing for sure in this time of drought, two days in a row of serious…

  • Lately, when dusk falls, it finds me taking a break from the computer, folded into my rocking chair on the front porch, Belle snoozing beside me, camera at the ready, glass of wine in hand. It's a transitional moment between day and night. The front porch faces east, so there's no dramatic sunset, just a…

  •     Yesterday I helped a friend celebrate her son Ryan's graduation from the University of Texas.  We enjoyed beer, barbecue, and a cake decorated like Big Bertha, the large drum wheeled around at halftime performances, because Ryan was on the Big Bertha team for the Longhorn Band. I got to see all of my…

  • Here it is, my confession: I've fallen out of the habit of looking for those sweet! moments in every day. It hasn't been too much of a problem until now, what with The Wedding and Mother's Day and all, because they overflowed in sweetness. But today. Ah, today. A Monday by any other name would…

  •   The sun still yawned under a light gray blanket this morning when the puppies and I headed out for our walk. Josie, my grandpuppy, took the lead as usual; she's still excited about her visit to the country. Belle, my sweet companion, fell into step near me. She never strays too far from my…

  • 1. I've spent the last two hours in shorts, relishing the sun on my skin and the brilliant, cloudless blue sky. Tom has the chainsaw out and is busy trimming branches in the woods in front of our house. I'm dragging them down along the side porch and tossing them over the back railing. We'll…

  • The fairy tale is over, at least for me and Tom. While my son and his beautiful bride continue their romantic story over in Italy, we've said goodbye to the rehearsal dinner leftovers and the last out-of-town guest. My mother-in-law left this morning. No more eating out or playing cutthroat games of 3-13, where I actually…

  •   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…

  • 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…