A Mindful Life

Today Claire asked, “What is a symbol?” I tried to answer. A symbol is a small picture that represents a thing that has a certain meaning. The letter T for the “t” sound, for example. Words are symbols. A red light is a symbol, telling people to make their car stop at it, while a [...]

Back in 2004, when my father-in-law was gravely ill, I happened across a book that I was compelled to buy: The Grace in Dying: How We Are Transformed Spiritually as We Die, by Kathleen D. Singh. I began to read it, and in the introduction the author suggested that if the reader was in the [...]

Poor Claire. She has pneumonia again. This time, besides the antibiotic, we have been prescribed an Albuterol breathing treatment to give via mask every four hours until the follow-up visit on Thursday morning. Here’s hoping it’s not asthma she is developing… Husband is sick too with a cold. Where’s the vitamin C?? I should bathe [...]

My mom sent the link to this video. It’s fun, and sweet. If the embed doesn’t work, click this link. I haven’t been at the computer much. Decorating, and more decorating, and herding a child through our days.

I wanted contrast and intensity. I had random scraps. This is what came together! Mesa / 2.5 x 3.5″ collage I wasn’t sure about the difference between a butte and a mesa, so I looked it up. A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped hill or mountain with steep sides that is smaller in area than [...]

I’m excited. The rains are coming. Now, you have to live in California to appreciate my enthusiasm. The weather is subtle here. When I speak of rains, I don’t mean the hair-raising, eardrum-splitting drama of a Texas thunderstorm. (Oh, how I miss those!) Even my hometown, Syracuse, is capable of stormy antics. No, the rains [...]

Today we took Claire to the Children’s Discovery Museum, and she had a grand time. She played with water, climbed ramps, painted, crawled, turned things over, looked in mirrors, climbed inside boxes, danced, painted her face, and generally filled her brain through all her senses. We bought a family membership, and we’ll be going frequently [...]

This video by RadioLab moved me deeply. If you have four minutes to spare, do watch it. And if the video doesn’t work, click this link to see it.

It’s Earth Day. One of our kitchen fluorescent tube lights burned out and we have to dispose of it. After some Googling, I found this information for California: A fluorescent light tube in your dumpster is a violation of the hazardous waste laws. Violation of these laws can result in large fines and criminal prosecution. [...]

Husband and I are about to watch the very last episode of Battlestar Galactica. I saw a headline that said it was immersion therapy for the post 9/11 world. It’s a dark series, but it has richly developed characters and is intensely interesting. I’m eager to know how they resolve all this. I’ve never been [...]