“Marvelous” was my mother’s word.  I think she loved the sophisticated way that the first syllable could be drawn out, as in “MAH-velous.”  She used it all the time.  I mean ALL THE TIME!  On the other hand, she objected to my dad’s overuse...

The dancing candle flames break into prisms in her brain,
pixilating thoughts shattering in shards of names and
                           places of vague memory. 

I pull across the white fog line
along the edge of the road,
not out of drowsiness,
but wide awake to the field
bursting with autumn joy, 

pumpkins and squash lying
haphazardly, spilling out of neat,
lines and rows, plump and orange,
framed by trees and gentle ascents
that form a glory-singing...

I grew up with the admonition, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.”  If ignorance is no excuse, then willfully disobeying is even more inexcusable. Therefore, imagine my dismay when one morning in December the front page of the LA Times proclaimed, “Starting Jan. 1, food...

I discovered quite by accident that my mother loved parades.  It was back when our daughter was quite small.  Mom was visiting, and we decided to go to Disneyland for Mother’s Day.  (It used to be a great day to visit the Magic Kingdom, as most mothers don’t put...

The four weeks of Advent were meant to be a season of anticipation and self-examination as the church awaited the arrival of our savior king.  And then come the Christmas and Epiphany seasons of joyful awe and wonder.  All the prophecies about Immanuel came true as God in flesh visited...

We light a match, kindle fires,
  torch the place, burn it all down.
So angry at the world that You bequeathed
  in all its fallen frailty…angry at the other

not like us; anger that’s a smokescreen
  conveniently veiling our own ruined hearts.
What are we hiding in those...

“God said, ‘Let the land produce seed-bearing plants’…and it was so.  The land produced plants bearing seed and trees bearing fruit with seed.”       Genesis 1:11-13 

God is planning for a future that includes death and...

I have a newfound appreciation for reindeer. 

My husband and I agreed that the first Saturday of Advent would be the day to decorate our Christmas tree.  The tree itself was already up, and lights had been positioned for us by our indispensable girl Friday, Denise.  But we needed...

“A farmer went out to sow his seed….some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.”    Matthew 13:4 

I know it isn’t the message of the parable exactly, but my heart goes out to the poor frustrated farmer. My son-in-law has been...