I woke early this morning. I am puppy sitting for my oldest’s new addition, so it was cold blue, silent early. I used to be a night person. Those were the hours everyone was asleep, and I could be with myself, my thoughts. Early morning was never my jam, but I moved in with a…
I am not sure I’ve always appreciated my bed. I have always loved to sleep and nap, but being in my bed, awake, is not something I used to do until I was recently told by a doctor to stay put. When you are forced to stay in bed, it becomes a place. A place…
It is cold and late. I can hear the owls from my office. I often push the knowledge that life is fragile down deep somewhere around the equally unproductive “Why are we here?” and “That saguaro and most of these trees will outlive me.” We get an undetermined number of days in this life, and…
I have been looking for the perfect bra since the little training ones no longer did the trick. Shopping for bras is such an awkward process no matter the cup. One minute articles or actresses chastise the media for not embracing the female form. The mantra-of-the-moment is that my breasts should be celebrated and happy in…
I don’t think my daughter ever played dress-up. She had some gypsy stuff and leftover Halloween costume props that would surface as perfectly acceptable school accessories, but she never walked around in my heels or wanted to wear my work clothes. Now I know why. Katlyn is my oldest and today she turns twenty-three.…
You are the air I breathe. Romance is often figurative. It’s not the hearty literal verb of living or loving, even. It is soft and tender. I like words and images, so romance works for me. I’m a song, story, poem, sweeping anything kind of person. I am weak knees at a whisper. And I don’t think…
I opened up the windows in my office today. It’s chilly out, and they were not open for very long, but sometimes a girl needs fresh air inside. I get fresh air outside when I walk Jack, or sit out back, but there’s something different when outside sweeps through my inside, my closed off. I tend…
Every now and then, I look at words or things and they appear mysterious. It’s as if I’m seeing them for the first time. All of a sudden the word “porch” seems strange, and I wonder if I’m spelling it right. My brain pauses. Or, I notice that my feet have toes and “How odd…
There’s a cactus on the corner by our house. I honestly can’t remember how it got there. After we built our home and the land settled back down from the trauma of construction, this particular cactus ended up on the corner. Maybe we planted it there, I’m not sure. All I know now is that it is my…