There’s a drop shuffle shuffle off the steps from the den to the kitchen. A natural rhythm lies here – and a smooth glide, especially if you’re wearing socks. There are seven shuffle-slide steps through the dining area. You can time it to two bars of most any music. To your right is the creaky…

It must have been a child who shook my snow-globe world with careless jolts and jerks of whiplash followed by occasional aftershocks.

Our mother was a gem. Like all gemstones, if you look at her from just one side, one facet, you miss the dazzling brilliance, the reflection of light. To see her from one or even two dimensions is to miss her depth. Some of you know the farm girl, in the middle of nine children.…

Mystery whispers truth into the seed of the soul of the universe. Tucked under layers of winter-hardened soil, the earth’s children struggle to direct the terms of their emergence. How, when, where, why, wherefore. I shall wear a yellow bonnet with satin tie. I shall bow and dance gratitude to sun and rain. I will…

The first teacher arrived in gray-brown overcoat.  She fussed and flew in circles in the small classroom while I, her student, watched from the doorway.  The stripes on her shoulders glowed green against the afternoon sun. What’s happening? I thought before saying aloud, “I don’t understand.  I didn’t expect you.” The hummingbird rose higher toward…

It’s our evening routine, Clover and me. Each night, after I return with the big dogs from our romp down the road, I gently wake my geriatric cockapoo who sleeps nestled in fleece blankets on my red Parisian sofa. She’s black with tuxedo markings and a single white paw. Clover is small and mighty, still…