“Look, David, there’s a Cardinal in your composter,” Lori said. The bright red Cardinals immediately spark joy for us. We’ve seen as many as 10-12 Cardinals gathering around my composters. They don’t actually get in the compost; they are living ornaments adorning the otherwise plain and ugly. “Cardinals in the compost,” I said, echoing her …
We had just unpacked our suitcases from a weeklong trip to Oklahoma. Lori and I now divide our stay there; she spends most of her time with her mom in Edmond, and I drive to Altus to be with my brother. Lori’s mom has dementia, and my brother has ALS. Neither of those maladies gets …
“You missed her story.” I knew the Voice too well, though it did not speak audibly. It was more like a gentle nudge, a silent whisper. Lori and I were in Savannah, Georgia, and just before departing, we chanced upon a bookstore in the historic area of the city where we had spent three wonderful …
We’ve heard the New Year quips: “The closing of one chapter is the beginning of another,” “Endings precede new beginnings,” and most recently, “Goodbye, 2024, Hello 2025.” Here’s another one, though not specific to a new year: “All will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” It’s a …
It’s Christmas, and the struggle to stay off the “naughty” list and cling to the “nice” list is over. Parents who have used Santa’s “naughty/nice” list as a means of behavioral control must now utilize another method to reward good conduct and punish the bad. Various websites exist to aid parents who use the naughty/nice …