Long Hollow

Where seeds of thought have room to grow

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Realtor, writer, blogger in Austin, TX

Category: Texas

  • Five Things on Friday

    1. Last night I attended a funeral for the mother of one of my long-time, closest friends. Hers was one of the houses where we all congregrated, from middle school on up (I had my first kiss on the sidewalk in front of that house)… and now my friend opens up her home to all…

  • Birthdays, Austin Adventures, and other Sweet!s

    Once you reach a certain age, numbers become surreal. They change (faster and faster and faster) but you feel the same. Wasn't it only yesterday I was cage dancing in honor of my 50th birthday?  Way back in my thirties and forties, I set some goals for myself. By my 50th birthday, I planned to…

  • Hard Times Require Furious Dancing

    (photo by Deborah Barrett) I love dancing. Nevermind the therapeutic benefits, both mental and physical. When I hear certain beats and rhythms, I really can't sit still. If nothing else, my toe will be dancing. What I love almost as much as dancing is getting others out on the dance floor with me, getting them…

  • If I could talk, I’d tell of…

    Births. Deaths. Certainly those. Celebrations for birthdays, for weddings, for the end of a drought and good crops. Tables in the yard, laden with food. Tantalizing smells wafting from the kitchen, promising more. Heartache. Loved ones who went to war and never returned. Arguments and screen doors slamming. Joyous reunions. Neighbors helping put out a…

  • A Little Sister, a Shower, and a Salt Lick

    I taught her how to drive a stick-shift – she caught on fast, much faster than my kids years later – and when her brother broke up with me, she wrote me poems to soothe my broken heart. She was barely a teenager back then, two years younger than me, and so in our split-high-school…

  • 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…

  • Signs of Spring, and other Sweet!s

    Like the Munchkins when Dorothy first arrives in the (movie) land of Oz, yellow flowers are popping up and peeking out at the world, one by one, to see if the coast is clear and the rumor is true..that the wicked old winter is gone. (Not that our winters here around Austin, Texas are actually…

  • Retreat! and Silver Linings

      I took a quick overnight road trip with a friend Friday. We stayed in cute little apartments with screened porches set in a woodsy area full of walking paths… a great place to take deep breaths and relax and take a break from the rest of the world. There was wine, laughter, and great…

  • On A Windy Day

    A brisk north wind roared through the hollow this morning, whisking cobwebs from the corners of my brain and slapping my face with its cold hands, saying "Wake up! Look around at this glorious morning! Isn't it great to be alive?" I love the wind. It has felt like spring the past few days, and…

  • Empty Spaces, Cedar Fever, and a Handful of Stones

    There's a big empty space in my living room now. My middle son came home this weekend and helped me pack up the memories and cart the tree downstairs to its place in the storage room. (Daniel also helped Tom cut and carry firewood. We love it when he comes home!) Usually my rocking chair…