I’ve never understood why our little dog Jolie scratches the couch, the floor, or her dog bed before she lies down. She will scratch and scratch and scratch, and make absolutely no dent in the surface. Is she searching for something? Does she think she’s getting somewhere? In her little mind, is she making progress?…
Like riding a bike, or not.
I’ve heard it said that routines are good, especially healthy ones like getting to bed on time, meditating, eating breakfast, and exercising. But there’s also something to be said for shaking up the routine, adding a little spice to your life, and trying new things. I took up knitting when my kids were younger, and…
Polar opposites.
I put on several layers, a wool headband and a hat, a huge scarf around my neck and face, and two pairs of socks under my snow boots. It was 6:45 a.m. and I just had to go outside. After all, it’s not everyday one gets to experience what 20 below feels like. The snow…
Opening our gifts: 2018 year-in-review
They come home one by one. First Leah, from Indiana Wesleyan University. Then Chloe, from St. Olaf College in Minnesota. Next comes Jared, flying home from Austin, Texas. And then Seth and Maddie make the trek from Grand Rapids. The past couple of years, I’ve made a little display by way of Facebook posts of…
Comfort food and warm fires: savoring the moments before saying goodbye.
We pass through the hills and valleys surrounding the Chohocton River as we head home from Corning, New York. Tom is driving, while I look out the window. Our son Seth and his wife Maddie sit quietly in the back seat. It’s hard to bring ourselves to talk after saying our final goodbyes to Morgan,…
Weathering the Storm
I must have hit the grocery store right after “stock-up” day last week. As I walked through the aisles I noticed shelves filled to the edges with rows and rows of food and other necessities. Choices, choices, choices. And plenty of everything. I thought to myself how blessed we are to have such abundance. In…
The shell in my pocket.
We’ve been home for a few hours now. The waves on the coast and the salty sea air already seem so far away. The friends we ate with, swam with, walked and talked with, prayed and played with…are now scattered across hundreds of miles from the U.S. to Canada. But I have a shell in…
Horses and pirates and ferries, oh my!
Today was our final day for exploration and adventure. Several of our gang opted to spend the day around the beach house and pool. Tom, Brian and I decided to take a trip to Shackleford Banks. We drove to Beaufort and got in line for the express ferry to Shackleford. We had hoped to…
A “no clouds, no plans” kind of day.
The best laid plans…well, they’re sometimes meant to be changed. We had planned to take a ferry out to Shackleford today, but when everyone got up, no one really felt like driving anywhere and doing anything that required planning and orchestration. Instead, we decided to have a “no plans” kind of day. After all, isn’t…
Lost in Beaufort
After waking up early two mornings in a row, it felt really great to sleep in today. When we got up, Brian had breakfast almost ready. All eight of us again sat down at the table to enjoy an egg casserole (Chili Cheese Egg Puff) and fruit. It was a great start to our day….
Don’t worry, be happy.
No rest for the weary! We were up at 5:30 today so we could leave by 6:30. We had chartered a four hour fishing trip with Pelagic Sportfishing for the six of us. This was a new experience for most of us, and we were all (well, mostly all) a bit excited. The boat was…
I tell him what to do…that’s how I steer!
Today we enjoyed our first seawater adventure….kayaking! We drove to Beaufort Paddle (about 40 min away), where Tom & I and Gord & Annie rented tandem kayaks for a half day. Brian & Jill put their kayak in the water along with ours, and we were off to explore the Rachel Carson Reserve, an area…
Joy in the Journey 