Copies of the following letter will be included in 86 bags of gifts that will be hung on door handles of rooms in the Cancer Care Alliance units of University of Washington Medical Center this coming Friday.  

Preparing for this activity every year always provides me with opportunities for gratitude.  Not just gratitude for health and prosperity, also gratitude for the painful lessons that I learn every year in my efforts to be the strong, independent, thoughtful and perfect daughter…

OK, guess I used up all the pixels on 33 so will continue here.

Pictures at the campground in Meridan, MS.

Just one of the many unusual things that We come across in our travels.

Vicksburg, MS. This pic is of the…

At the end of my last installment we were asphalt camping in the Flying "J" parking lot at Cattletsburg, KY.

From there we motored on down to the Escapee Park at Raccoon Valley near Knoxville, TN. The leaves were turning and it was a very colorful trip. Unfortunately, it is not advisable to take pictures while driving a 22,000 Lb. RV pulling a car. So you will just have to use your imagination.…

Thanksgiving

Mac Hammond

The man who stands above the bird, his knife

Sharp as a Turkish scimitar, first removes

A thigh and leg, half the support

On which the turkey used to stand. This

Leg and thigh he sets on an extra

Plate. All his weight now on

One leg, he lunges for the wing, the wing

On the same…

,,,,,Crosby, Stills, Nash and Svensson.

Well Brothers and Sisters, as you may or may not know, today is Neil Young's birthday.  Ol' Shakey is now sixty-six!

What a storied career the guy has had....whether playing by himself, or with his numerous bands, or when he was in the mega-group, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

Ah yes, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young....what a supergroup that was.....four giant egos (OK, maybe only three and a half) coming together for a…

Here's my backyard right before the October 29th snow storm that blindsided the Northeast.

Fall for me is a curious season especially with the juxtaposition of beauty and decay. I guess it is much like perceiving aging. Do you see the splendor of the foliage first, its incandescent glow of colors or do you see the withering vines and  shriveling fruits? OR are…

THE HAY FIELD.

Yep! That's the hayfield on my West Virginia farm. Where Happy the Goldendoodle and I spent the last couple months.

However it has been nowhere as dry as the above picture. It rained 3 or 4 days every week during Sept. and Oct.

As long time readers of my blogs know, Happy is a Big, Black, Hairy dog who loves water. The muddier, the better.…

Well, here I go again. Venturing out into new territory. A new venue to meet new people and experiences. I have been restructuring my life for the past two years and I find new opportunities at every turn. I guess I'm really learning that the only predictable thing in life is change.



Change has never been a favorite word of mine as it applies to life. I enjoy change when it applies to unimportant things like…

Happy 25th!!

I have enough to share...

She thought men were saviors...

...And she looked for more in them

Than what they were...

Only to rescue herself

From those she wished

Would rescue her...

And isn't that the most tragic lie...

The lie...

Where we tell what we wished were…

Little More Than A Handful

Of little import to most anyone else, I would think; but I had a small epiphany this morning (are any of them "small"?) About photography...either as a vocation, or a very involved hobby.

I have been asked innumerable times over my life, a tad over fifty of those years being involved more than casually with snapping…

In her published memoirs Alma Mahler, widow of the composer Gustav Mahler, records the following anecdote about an incident that occurred in New York City in about the year 1909, while Mahler was conductor of the New York Philharmonic.



"Marie Uchatius, a young art-student, paid me a visit one day in the Hotel Majestic [in New York City]. Hearing a confused noise, we leaned out of the window and saw a long procession in the broad street along the side of Central Park [Fifth…

I was recently chastized for showing poor judgment by posting an item on TBD that some might find offensive and inappropriate. 

The fact is that I suffer from severe mental illness, and, in fact, my psychiatrist has said that I show "grossly impaired judgment."  While my illness does not excuse bad behavior, it helps explain it!  If I have offended anyone on TBD I apologize!!

You can read the results of my most recent psychiatric evaluation at the following…

a heart-wrenching, beautiful 9/11 tribute...

"...death ends a life, not a relationship." ~from Tuesdays with Morrie. Even though someone we love dies, they will always be a part of our life.…