When I last wrote about the window I cut into my fence, I ended the post with the line, “If fences make good neighbors, then little windows cut into them make good friends.” I realize that it might be bad form to give away a last lines like that but endings often aren’t the end, … More The Window Part 2: Heartbreak, Loss, and Then?
Is he an adversary wrapped in charm? … More Just Love
You know that feeling? The one where you’re hanging on by a thread? … More Empathy in Living Color
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post calling for help to Put Me In the Mood For Love. And wow, I loved the results, pun intended. Here’s why. It made me feel for the 100th (or maybe 1000th) time what a warm place this WordPress community is. In responses that were romantic, realistic, … More Color Me Tickled Pink
“Invisible threads are the strongest ties” Friedrich Nietzsche I believe spiders are rather solitary creatures. I’ve certainly never seen a two spider team working together to spin a web. A single spider has to form all those intricate connections to create a viable web. The spider’s life literally depends on it. Humans too can be … More Connected
Over the recent holidays, we were watching Mathilda the Musical based on the Roald Dahl book. The character of Ms. Trunchbull, the former Olympic hammer thrower and mean headmistress played by Emma Thompson, was totally getting to Miss O. They show Ms. Trunchbull grabbing a little girl by her braids and twirling her around and … More Lean In or Let Go
Hello everyone! I’m getting a late start as one of the contributors to The Heart of The Matter. I truly appreciate how the other writers here have given so graciously of their time so that I could take a mini vacation before my first post. I had some other thoughts in mind for this first … More A Shock Wave Becomes A Ripple…
On an early morning this week, my kids and are were at the window looking at a cool sunrise when the cat jumped up and joined us so we were all together. Thinking about family, Miss O asked me, “Are we ever going to get a dad?” I replied, “Sure. I think so.” And she … More Put Me In the Mood For Love
I’ve been avoiding the blogosphere for months now. And do you know why? Because I finally decided to date someone I really like. And whenever I do that, my world turns upside down, all hell breaks loose in my nervous system, and I become unrecognizable to myself. Actually, that last part isn’t true. I definitely recognize this part of myself. She’s been with me for decades, and she hasn’t gone anywhere. I just don’t like the look of her all that much. So over the years, I’ve performed the cunning act of dating people I’m kinda eh about. Because when I’m eh about someone, I don’t lose myself. And when I like someone, my wounds and demons emerge like boils on a toad’s back, which is never fun. … More This Is Why I Don’t Date People I Really Like
I learned about death the hard way. One day in the early 1970s, my mom picked me up from the neighbor lady who watched me during the day. When we got home, she told me that Shep, our lovable Collie, had died. She had gotten loose from her leash, strayed from the yard, and gotten … More My first brush with death
The Heart of the Matter 