Polar Nights and Northern Lights of Tromsø

Polar Nights and Northern Lights of Tromsø

Since I was a child listening to my mother’s stories about the boats that would weave their way through the fjords to bring letters and necessary goods to little towns and villages up north where Santa lived, I have wanted to visit northern Norway. This Christmas, I did.

Meditation in Snow and Silence

Meditation in Snow and Silence

On this bitterly cold day across most of the United States, I come to you from Bergen, Norway, where I am spending the Christmas holiday with family.

One Christmas while in the Colorado mountains, I was overwhelmed by the season – too much emphasis on buying the next big thing for gifts, frantically shopping, cooking, sending out cards, and ensuring everything was perfect. I took a walk in the woods to clear my head and breathe. I thought I’d reshare this post I wrote when I emerged from that walk.

China leaving

China leaving

The vacuum rolled across the wood floor with ease, picking up the last remnants of China. Little black balls of fur that I so often cursed, I now looked upon with gut-ripping love. As each tuft was sucked into the bag of dust and dead bugs, I began to cry with more...
Annie

Annie

She was from a different era, when people were polite and grounded. She had three children, and I was married to one of them. Having her as my mother-in-law was a gift. Annie (Anna Shillo), was a no nonsense woman who was practical, warm, deeply loving and she was...
To Be a Mother

To Be a Mother

Here’s the deal, my “kid” is thirty-three years old, and in my heart, he still needs me, and yet, in reality, I know he really only needs me on rare occasions. It’s our job as parents to raise confident and capable people who we then must let go of and set free into...
Blessings

Blessings

With all of the pretty pictures we see on social media expressing visions of lives perfected to that of extreme luxury, adventure, travel, friendship, family and love so accomplished as to look flawless, remember that most of it is simply an illusion. We only allow...