It is January. I stand alone in the quiet woods on the hilltop, its peace distilling my spirit. Last year I discovered this hidden place, accessible through my own secret path beyond trails that dead-end uphill next to a park. It was one of the unexpected gifts of 2020, and I have come here now for the first time in 2021. I have learned much from the trees over the past year, wandering through the woods alone, in constant contemplation and communication with my Creator, favorite pen and journal stashed in a small bag across my shoulder. Today the trees stand naked in sunshine. Humble and exposed, all...

As the COVID-19 pandemic and global shutdown began to unfold in early 2020, I was already hearing people say they couldn’t wait for 2020 to be over. When April Fool’s Day rolled around, one publication reported a general sense that the entire year of 2020 has turned out to be a joke and everyone is the fool. Then May brought the tragic, unjust and racially motivated death of George Floyd, sparking protests and riots across America that have spread all over the world. As we begin the final quarter of the year, election season is upon us and will no doubt incite further national division and scathing...

In my little corner of the world, the earth is thick with spring. Delicate pink cherry tree petals cartwheel across sidewalks in the breeze. The grass deepens and yellow butterweed flourishes along the tree-lined creek bank. Early flowering honeysuckle emits its first glorious aroma into the cool afternoon air. But even as such beauty blooms, all across the globe, the world is thick with virus. As spring advances, so does the impact of the COVID-19 virus. The serenity of my creek-side nature walks over the past couple of weeks—both in my neighborhood and at my favorite little park, which is now...

February 16, 2020 marks a decade without Mom. For her this past decade should have been a golden one, enjoying her grandsons as they grew and became teenagers, buying dolls and paint sets for her granddaughter, celebrating with two of her daughters as they got married (one of them me), spending more time traveling with my dad, helping her own elderly mother…and thinking about how she wanted to celebrate her 70th birthday next year. Mom with her mom and granddaughter 10 years ago How much Mom has missed these last 10 years. How much I have missed her and longed for her! But from her...

Last night I stood in the stillness of an early spring evening overlooking Center Hill Lake, a beauty tucked between tree-covered hills in Smithville, TN. The only sounds were the chirps and calls of birds. No motors, no cars, no construction, no voices. Early this fog-smitten Saturday morning, I trekked downhill on a trail to the water’s edge through the shadowy woods. The song of Pippin Took in The Return of the King played in the background of my mind: Mist and shadow Cloud and shade All will fade All will fade I watched gulls and their mirror images fly over the cove shrouded in mist and disappear...

It’s been more than a decade since my mother gave me a crystal creamer and sugar bowl set. It’s been so long now that I don’t remember the date. But I do remember how excited I was to receive it, as well as the general timeframe when I broke the creamer—around four years after she died. I was so disappointed. It had been elegant and beautiful, and still a fresh reminder of my mother’s love for me. Now half the set was missing. It was another incident that exemplified the growing distance between my current life and my life when my mother was alive. I’ve always been on the sentimental side, but after...