It’s time for packing again, this time for my trip to Switzerland. While I always keep the “essentials” in a suitcase, each trip, just like each new piece of writing, has its own particular needs. There’s always something special to add or something irrelevant to take away. Continue reading Packing for a Trip is Like Writing… →

This week and next I’m spending my mornings taking my grandson to swimming lessons and writing. Together. When we arrive in Indian Head, he heads to the pool and I open the sunroof on my car, turn on my laptop and plug in the memory stick.

The pool, of course, is busy with lessons going on as well children running back and forth from the kiddie park while waiting for siblings to finish their lessons, a large number of grandparents (we’re the lucky ones sharing our grandkids lives) visiting, and an assortment of young people hanging out until the lifeguards and instructors have some free time. Continue reading Spaces to Concentrate →

I’ve always thought of persistence as being a good thing, as Benjamin Franklin said, “Energy and persistence conquer all things.”

However, for the past four days I’ve had a little American Goldfinch hammering on my office window, pecking away as if her life depended on getting whatever it is that she sees in the glass. And it isn’t just one piece of glass, but spots from the top of the window to low down on the wooden sill. Continue reading Persistence →

This summer I’m giving myself the gift of time. Antonio Porchia (Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin) said, “The flower that you hold in your hands was born today and already it is as old as you are.”

I’ve reached the age when I know that time passes much too quickly… Continue reading The Gift of Time →