This is so very good! A gem, indeed. Enjoy. Also, be sure to check out more of Esme’s writing at sonmicloud.wordpress.com.
Category: Uncategorized
Steps
Oddly enough, I didn’t cry when I wrote this one a couple of years ago, but now I find myself with tears running down my face.
Clutchingher handbag tightly in her left hand, Mary Riley gripped the rail at the top of the steps outside St. Vincent’s with her right. For the hundredth time that winter she wondered why she hadn’t requested communion be brought to her home. And for the hundredth time she smiled to herself, knowing how much she looked forward to Father Mark’s homilies and the feeling of belonging she received from attending mass.
Although a chilly wind swept across the steps they were clear of snow and ice, yet Mary knew the three sets of four steps could be treacherous for one her age. Just last fall her friend Ruth had taken a tumble on the last two steps and broken a hip. That same Ruth who’d once raced her to the top of the steps so many years before had never recovered from her accident and they’d buried her two…
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Food Photography – Rustic Bruschetta
Here’s a treat from my friend Julie Powell. juliepowell2014.wordpress.com
Last week I had a few days of total bliss; no work, just pottering around doing what I want, I slept in, tidied up in the studio, played around with Still Life, got a haircut. One particular day I decided as it was just me home for lunch, I would buy some fresh crusty bread and make bruschetta and then, I thought I would photograph it all. That took longer than making it and eating it, but such fun. All shot in natural light, in the kitchen!
So let’s talk about this tasty recipe, it’s quick and easy and you can do it in about 15 minutes from start to finish (assuming you are not trying to photograph it all). With flavors bursting from the baby spinach, the sweet cherry tomatoes and the yummy, gooey melted cheese – all come together with the crusty fresh baguette and gives you a yummy snack…
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My Place
via My Place
The 7-Dollar Christmas Tree
This one made me cry. Studly and I had a few years like this one. Read more at nonsmokingladybug.wordpress.com
There was a time in our lives when we didn’t have too much money. To be honest, we didn’t have any and hardly made it. We were forced to start all over new, and so we moved with our dogs and everything an SUV could hold across the country. It was a move we couldn’t afford, many things were left behind.
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The Bluest Bike
I’ve known these feelings. Thanks, Jan Wilberg, for capturing them so beautifully!
I want the cream-colored bike at Target, the one with the old fashioned handlebars and a brown leather seat. It has fenders like the big blue bike I had as a kid that I rode down 10 1/2 Mile Road, a wide dirt road with fat potholes that filled to the brim after a good rain. My ride took me past broad, flat acres of farmland where fires would sometimes break out in the summer and people would come out of their raw suburban houses with shovels to beat down the embers.
I loved my blue bike. Every spring I rolled it out of the garage, parked it on spread out pages of the Detroit Free Press and sprayed the fender and chain guard a new year’s coat of the bluest blue. I can’t explain my love for that bike. No bike since has captured my heart; they have all…
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Hallmark Channel
An oldie, but I’m sitting here watching a sappy Hallmark movie….
I have become addicted to the sappy Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel. Somebody please help me.
I’m not kidding. Even as I type I’m watching A Heavenly Christmas starring Kristin Davis (Sex and the City) and Eric McCormack (Will and Grace). Some of the films are good, like this one. Some are predictable. Others are pretty awful. But they all have one thing in common–they’re all about the good things about Christmas. You know: peace, love, and hope.
Now, don’t tell anyone, but I’m even hooked on the advertisements on the Hallmark Channel. Maybe I’m getting in touch with my softer side.
Peace, people.
Patricia A. Nugent: Rush to Judgment
This. This is important.
She shuffles up to me on the sidewalk, paper cup in hand. She speaks so softly, I can’t understand what she’s saying. I ask her to repeat it.
“I’m homeless. Can you spare some change?”
This is an unusual scene on the streets of Saratoga Springs, New York, a refined city known for thoroughbred horse racing, mineral springs, and the arts. While there are homeless people, and a shelter to prove it, panhandlers aren’t typically encountered on the streets.
My arms are full, as I’m delivering my books to a local gallery. “I’ll be right back,” I promise. “I’ll help you then.” She knits her brow; she’s heard that before.
When I return ten minutes later, she’s nowhere in sight. I walk to the fair-trade coffee shop and order an egg sandwich and large chai latte with almond milk. As I wait for my carry-out, I spot her sitting at…
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It’s A Wonderful Life, You Know
Christmas Eve at Doright Manor
George Bailey found out
When prayers sent up saved him
Life is wonderful
A gift from our daughter!
Although our children
Are far away this Christmas
Their presence is felt
I’m watching my favorite Christmas movie, It’s a Wonderful Life. As usual I began crying when young George Bailey prevented the pharmacist, Mr. Gower, from poisoning a young child. Studly Doright wanted to watch the next episode of Fargo, but I argued that we could watch that any old time.
For once I won the battle for the remote. Studly’s even resisted the urge to flip to another channel during commercial breaks. I love him, even if he did buy me a holster for the gun I received for Christmas last year and still haven’t touched. Love is funny that way.
The cats are both drunk on catnip.
And I’m just content. I…
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Good Luck to Me
I think Jan Wilberg is onto something here.
I’m wondering if it’s a mistake that my husband’s my best friend.
I see that in obituaries all the time. The surviving spouse talking about how he or she lost their best friend and I think isn’t it enough that you lost your spouse? You should also lose your best friend at the same time? It makes me think I should be more intentional about diversifying.
I do have two women friends to whom I never lie which is, I think, the bottom line in women’s friendships. These are the people I tell that I hate my children, when I do, and they don’t flinch or scold. They nod and keep eating. They also don’t point out the contradiction when next I wax on about each of my lovely children’s successes and fine attributes. They always clear the dishes without being asked.
But I’m concerned about this husband as best…
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Praying for Eyebrowz 