How often have I been captivated by the masked man, the man of mystery, in stories and film? The Man in the Iron Mask was reputed to be the wrongly imprisoned heir to the throne of France, and was restored to his reign by the Three … Read more

"I was here first!" It starts so early! This exclamation often ended in some pushing and shoving. The effort to be first in line seems to go way back in my memory. It seemed that to be first in line was some kind of great achievement … Read more

When I worked at the hardware store, one of my jobs was to cut keys. People would arrive with a variety of keys and ask me to make duplicates for them. Duplicating a key required three steps: – Finding the right key blank to match the … Read more

As our little Shih Tzu puppy and I ventured out onto our patio one fateful morning, a female hawk dove directly towards Bailey. She was only a few inches away from me. I was terrified, so I furiously swung my iPad around (my only weapon), … Read more

At some point, it is likely that we have all heard this sentence: "My conscience is clear." We may have even said it ourselves. While we need to have a clear conscience, the sensitivity and integrity of individual consciences are very … Read more

During this Eastertide, we are living through a season of resurrection and hope. Some use that word hope as an acronym for Heal Our Planet Earth. Hope is what we cling to in these dark days of war and destruction, global warming and … Read more

Handling final affairs can be sobering but helpful. Before my father died, he arranged most of his final affairs. Although he never went to the funeral home and selected a casket, he did have his order of service mapped out, as well as a … Read more

In the 1970s, my husband Lynn and I lived as far away from our hometown of Portland, Oregon, USA, as is possible. Portland's antipode (on the opposite side of the globe) is somewhere in the Indian Ocean, and the large island of Madagascar, … Read more

"Let it go!" These words interrupted my thoughts one day while wrestling over an issue which had begun to feel like a losing battle. My efforts to change the situation felt fruitless. With those words, "Let it go!" the light dawned: I saw … Read more

Whoo—who-who—whoo "Terry! Wake up! I hear the owl!" I had been hearing this sound every night from inside our cabin at Camp Loma de Vida, in south Texas, USA, during the winter months this year. We had never actually pin-pointed its … Read more