Long Hollow

Where seeds of thought have room to grow

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Realtor, writer, blogger in Austin, TX

Category: My Country Life

  • Thanksgiving, Advent, and other sweet!s of the week…

      I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I did. I feel especially blessed that in my 55 years I've only been responsible for the whole dinner a handful of times, thanks to my mom and, more recently, my son and daughter-in-law.     For the second year in a row, my son did an…

  • Reflections on Gratitude, and “Lasts” (and Happy Thanksgiving to you!)

      There's a small pond tucked into the bottom of a hill down the road from our house. It can be counted on to hold water when the others have all dried up, deep enough that our Max puppy could really swim in it sometimes, not just wade. He loved it.     One morning…

  • The Power of a Wheat Penny

    Like my Daddy, and his daddy before him, I have a coin collection. My coins aren't categorized into small blue books like theirs, though. Mine -all wheat pennies - jingle around in an old bourbon bottle.   This doesn't look like much of a collection after fifty years, does it?   I'm not sure when or…

  • Birthday Snow

      It snowed in Texas today, and it's not even Thanksgiving yet.  Granted, it was in Lubbock, up in the Panhandle, farther north than most of Texas. My son and daughter-in-law (a Texas Tech graduate) were there this weekend, celebrating her birthday, and she welcomed the snow as a special birthday gift. (I just hope…

  • Party Girl

      This evening my family commandeered the sunroom where my mom lives to celebrate her 83rd birthday a few days early. It was the only day we could all be together, but besides that, when you're turning 83, you really should start celebrating early, don't you think?     I know Mama loves being with…

  • I took a walk…

      After a long day of driving and showing houses to clients all over Austin, then a never-long-enough visit with my mom, I arrived back home yesterday evening just as the sun started its goodbyes. The light was golden, the sky a crisp and an ever-deepening blue.  I set aside the list of things I…

  • House dogs, Hangar Parties, October(fests), and other sweet!s

      Belle is snoring behind me, curled up on a purple and pink fringed blanket TG gave to her. The past couple of nights she's slept beside my bed on a small rug. She's getting better about sleeping through the night without waking me for attention. Just like a baby.  I've never had a house dog…

  • Nightowls, Revisiting Spring, and other Sweet!s

      Temperatures here have been in the 70's and 80's. Wildflowers, mostly yellows and purples, line the roadside and dot the woods. Birds chatter and sing in the treetops, bright green bushes dotted with new blooms hum with industrious bees, and Monarch butterflies dance among the snow-on-the-prairie.     Is this spring or autumn? It doesn't…

  • Silver Linings of a Not-So-Empty-Nest

      On Monday my middle son turned 26. He celebrated by taking the day off from work, sleeping in, and then relaxing on the back porch with Belle, reading and drinking his coffee.  He's definitely a child after my own heart.  The day started out a rainy one. But by the time Belle and I…

  • Sweets and Sorrows

        Each morning since my old puppy Max passed away, Belle and I have ended our walk in the little cemetery where he, Charly, Chewy, Ruthie, and Frankie are all buried. It may seem like a bittersweet way to start the day, but I believe it has helped me, and maybe Belle, transition to…