In my neighborhood, there are many live oaks. Their winding and twisting limbs spread in a majestic canopy, green leafed capillaries against the sky. I pause in my morning walk to place a hand on deeply furrowed bark. Under my palm, a force rises from the earth and gently filters into my heart. I walk […]
A grey and cold day, close to but not at freezing. I struggle in days without sun. I struggle still with the weight of a heart heavy with grief. Everywhere I look, I see only gray. Except. I pull up to an intersection. To my right, a former used car lot. A metal pipe runs […]
In an episode of Big Bang entitled “Itchy Brain Simulation,” Leonard thinks Sheldon is overreacting over an unreturned DVD. Sheldon feels Leonard doesn’t understand that, for him, unresolved issues are “like an itch in my brain that I can’t scratch.” So Sheldon asks Leonard to wear an itchy sweater until the overdue DVD is taken […]
On my walk this morning, I came across a weeping cedar tree, the tips of its branches at eye level. From every frond there hung a drop of rainwater. Backlit by the rising sun, the branches were aglitter like a jeweler’s showcase. As I stepped closer to observe how tightly each droplet clung to the […]
I’ve been collecting my tears. Tiny bottles with stoppers are next to my bed, on my kitchen counter, in my car’s gear well, and at my art studio. Their contents are somewhat misleading because the stoppers are not airtight, allowing tears to evaporate, leaving an amber residue. But, clearly, I’ve cried most often in bed […]
One reliable measure of my day is how much sugar I put in my tea. This morning I filled half my dessert spoon from last night. (That I nibbled on something sweet before bed tells you something about my state of mind then.) Funny, I would have thought I needed more.
That which I refuse in myself, says Jung, will appear in my life as an event. The day started off well. I felt good, strong, confident. As the hours passed, a weight in my stomach slowly grew and I felt myself sicken. I became distracted. Unable to focus, I wandered the house. Made cup of […]