Long Hollow

Where seeds of thought have room to grow

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Realtor, writer, blogger in Austin, TX

Category: Me and Him

  • What does a father do? He leaves a legacy.

        "It’s hard to describe the choked up teary eyed swell of love and shaky adrenaline you experience witnessing your first child transform from a stomach bump into a little being. You’re mesmerized by their little sounds and movements for hours. Its like staring at the northern lights, lightning storms, ocean waves smashing cliffs,…

  • A Post-Florida / Pre-Grandbaby “Sweet” and “First” Update…

    "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." ~Jack Layton     When I headed to Florida with Tom last weekend, weather forecasts indicated we could be meeting up with a mini-hurricane. Ever-hopeful,…

  • What is Love? (A Rerun for Valentine’s Day)

    Love talked about can be easily turned aside, but love demonstrated is irresistible.~ W. Stanley MooneyhamAmerican minister and speaker, 20th century   One of my favorite Valentines from Tom one year … our little pond shaped into a heart In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd go back into the archives and find one of…

  • Happy birthday, Belle! (and other sweet!s)

        Eight years ago, while we were mourning the loss of our sweet Charly, a litter of puppies was born in east Texas.  Whether the mom was a pure-bred who had a wild fling with a stray, or she was a mixed breed stray herself, we'll never know.  We do know that a few…

  • I give thanks for you…

      When I was young, Thanksgiving was my least favorite holiday. There usually weren't any cousins my age to play with and the older ones didn't like me tagging along; I didn't care for most of the food (I didn't even like pie!); and after eating, everyone just sat around watching football, so I couldn't…

  • Reflections on Veterans Day

        Yesterday afternoon, I stood under a gray sky in the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery paying tribute to a friend who passed away a few months ago. He had retired from the Texas Army National Guard as a Sergeant Major. We also paid tribute to his father-in-law, a retired Air Force Major, who…

  • Thirty-Six Years Ago Tonight…

    Thirty-six years ago tonight, I had no idea my life was about to veer onto a drastically different course when I decided to go out dancing alone. That's when I first met Tom. Looking back, it's easy to see God's hand in the whole thing, but I was just going on 'gut' feelings. Being an…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Did I mention I went to Florida?

      If there's a heaven for me, I'm sure it has a beach attached to it.       Jimmy Buffett You didn't think I could spend two weeks in Florida and only share that one photo I published in my last blog post, did you?  I did hope to finish editing all of my photos before…