Lost Corner Letters

Some thoughts on life and living

The things our world cannot steal, the things that will last, are your integrity, your purpose and, for me, a richly woven inner tapestry that values a worn-down old place in Chatham County as highly as the biggest, finest American home.
Mitzi Viola, “At Home“

Essays, etc.

Sanctuary

For my favorite uncle in the season of daffodils. ~~~ The path is soft and easy like the filtered light that trickles through the pines and dances across the brown floor of sand and pine needles. Creeping cedar and ferns line the sacred aisle and reach into the air as if to say, “We are…
Retiring Atticus

Opening Arguments I [heart] Atticus Finch. It’s a brave admission, I know, but at nearly 41 and single, there’s not much to lose. It is time to come clean. Mr. Finch is Mr. Rogers meets Dr. King meets MacGyver meets Santa. He is complex. He is mine. If you, too, are a single, progressive Southern…
Dear Mr. Robber

To celebrate Valentine’s month, I am posting in honor of some of the people I love best… ~~~ I know you were here. Today, while I was in Cabarrus County making arrangements for my dead father’s funeral, you scoped out my house from the back porch. You let yourself in. It’s pretty impolite given the…
Starry night

When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. (Charles Austin Beard ) ~~~ I walk daily with my dogs in the neighborhood. I’m often distracted by conversations with neighbors as I pass their homes. There’s a pack of kids who attack me, begging to walk a dog and filling me in (unsolicited) on their adventures that day…
Formed

…Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug… – Isaiah 51:1 (from today’s church bulletin) This post is dedicated with gratitude to Heather and Jill. More than two years ago we embarked on a collective journey from three states. Our destination: North Carolina’s Outer Banks. We…
The path to wisdom

Follow your path. Start where you are. Beginning. Earlier this year I had an unexpected visitor. The dogs responded to a ruckus in the yard and led me to the back left corner of our lot. There in the darkness, making as much noise as possible to defend itself, was a critter tangled in the…

some thoughts on writing a life…

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I am a nonprofit development officer and student of life. For me, writing offers new ways of seeing ordinary things. I write to promote the common good and decrease the distances between people. Thanks so much for reading.
Mitzi