Summer Zen

Turkey babies. poults, wildlife in my neighborhoodMy Summer Zen story began as a prompt to my creative writing students: “Write a story that includes the line: ‘I wish I could stay here forever.’ Each writer sunk into the memory of a ‘perfect’ day. But as I wrote my story, I realized that we all could find a perfect moment in every day. 

Oh, and the header photo happened this past week – eight little turkey babies (poults) on our deck railing. I think Turkey Mama was having a perfect moment.

summer breeze, summer Zen, Bing Co-Pilot designAs lavender dusk approaches, walk me into the house, put a little music on– Rosemary Clooney, Enya, Vivaldi, the Beatles Rubber Soul– and let the fresh early-summer air meander through the open window. Yes, I’m beginning to get there. Continue reading

Lucky Charm

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/红火-2936866/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=7698176">David Young</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=7698176">Pixabay</a>The Friday it happened, I went about my business as usual, helping nature beautify the world.  I’d seen a lot of strange objects in my line of work: deflated balls; rusted costume jewelry; musty leather wallets with soggy dollar bills; even a diamond ring, which I had to return to its divorced owner.

But I’d never seen what I came across on that afternoon, between the hydrangea bushes and the to-be-planted dogwood trees. Continue reading