family life, women

Molting vs. empty nesting

“I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing.” ― Herman Melville, Moby-Dick I threw my favorite dress away last night. It felt a bit disrespectful to leave it lying helplessly in the kitchen trash, its brown field and white polka dots crumpled next to… Continue reading Molting vs. empty nesting

family life, spiritual life

A Life In Pieces

The mid-life lesson I'm learning from a winter's worth of frantic quilt completion is not about skill. As you can see, I have little. My stitches are free range and low on the count-per-inch chart. My seams rarely line up in proper fashion. No, the message in all those bits of fabric -- coming together… Continue reading A Life In Pieces

marriage

Why we’re not toast

Our "new" toaster ticks like something that needs to be defused. That's not its only unusual feature. When my husband decided to make late-night toast without turning on the kitchen lights for some reason, we discovered it also glows. In a hot-red-wire, pulsing kind of way. Like really pulsing. Pulsing that would have alarmed most… Continue reading Why we’re not toast

family life, spiritual life

My coat vs. God’s plan

It was a nice coat that Joseph had. Full of color and such luxury as was possible for a family living in the wilderness. But, it wasn't enough to keep him. In a single day, his brothers stripped him of his coat, dipped it in animal blood and convinced their father -- who had given… Continue reading My coat vs. God’s plan

family life

On being a cardigan

“If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad.” ― Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey Our daughters are potted plants, yearning for the deck or porch after a long season indoors. It’s time for big sky, for wind and rain. It’s time for the occasional dandelion fluff to drift… Continue reading On being a cardigan