Steel Magnolias Breathtaking, Delicate beauty Of Creamy Perfection With Roots Running Deep In Southern Soil A History Almost As Old as Time And Endurance As Tough as Steel* Patricia Neely-Dorsey Breathtaking Delicate Beauty Lively flower beds of petunias and snap dragons brighten my walk. Like pallets of paint, they blend and swirl in the cool…

Henry David Thoreau described his early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.   I understand. My morning walks give me a fresh new start to each day. They expand my capacity to appreciate life, given our restrictions, something on which I need to work. My reward is a lively concert I hear…

Anne Creel’s novel, The Magic of Ordinary Days, is one of my favorite books. Made into a beautiful Hallmark movie, it stars Keri Russell as a bookish minister’s daughter who, like us, is thrust into a sweeping new normal.   Against the backdrop of global war, Olivia Duran finds herself in a world she could…

Each day tumbles into the next without much demarcations. There is no more on-Mondays-I-do-this, and on-Tuesdays-I-go-here. Each day is generic. My weekly pill container tells me what day it is; my morning paper verifies. As I write, it is Sunday. No church. No Sunday brunch. We all miss the comings and goings of our lives….

Circles Need Maintenance My circles expand, yet regrettably, sometimes they tighten, giving me a feeling of claustrophobia. Is my circle too small? This egret has a morning message for me. He looks to his right and then, ever so delicately, he turns to his left. Maybe I also needed to look in new directions too….

Added to my expanding circle this Sunday morning: Mounds of Colorful Petunias Shady Live Oak Trees with Sturdy Welcoming Arms Brownies for Breakfast Neighbors Who Wave Hello Honking Canada Geese Books to Read: (Wait Until Next Year by Doris K Goodwin and my second Joshua book, Joshua in the Holy Land, by Father J Girzone)…

Every ending has a new beginning My new beginning started with a question:  What shall I place in my small but expandable circle? Before long I had new items.  Cool water to splash on my face each morning. My morning coffee, rich, dark and bold. Songbirds. Egrets and herons. And this: Let not your heart…

Week One: Something ends and something begins Like you, I saw my circles of life activities shrinking.  In the week before COVID 19 caused nationwide school closures, and cancelled sporting events, I was meeting friends for lunch, going to the gym, the pool, the library, playing music in my ukulele clubs and of course, dancing…

Congregating in groups of sunny yellows and perky pinks, my summer garden in Central Florida welcomes you.  Standing shoulder to shoulder are varieties of annuals and perennials. Kissed by a lemony sun, they burst with life.  Not cancelled are: Pallets of colorful pansies with Mickey-Mouse faces. Not cancelled are: Handfuls of Ruby-Red Gerbera Daisies reaching…

In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.  (Natalie Sleeth)  . . .Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can…