I spent the drive to church this morning telling my husband all the things I was carrying in my head about my upcoming work week. It was kind of him to listen (he is a patient man), and it actually did help me process a strategy of approaching the somewhat daunting tasks ahead. Being on a project team in the defining stages of a product build for a new core processor is not for the faint of heart. Not only does it require a certain nerdiness, it also requires courage, endurance and flexibility. As we were approaching the church property, however, I was slightly chagrined that I had by-passed our…

We had come to the last destination, before home, of a seven-day road trip. Our mode of transportation was a Harley Davidson Dyna-Super Glide, replete with backpack and side saddles. That day we’d traveled more than 150 miles in near 100-degree weather, and we were more than ready to peel off our leather chaps, riding gloves and helmets. The inside of the lodge of the small lake resort was blessedly cool as we trudged to our room. It might seem that we’d want nothing more than to stretch out on cool sheets and not move a muscle until sun-up, but it was our last evening before the final homeward stretch,…

The first time I saw a picture of my mother’s father, I thought it was mom with short hair. We had just moved into a new house, and I was “helping” in ways that only a seven-year-old can. It was a lovely picture of his head and shoulders in a polished wooden frame with bowed glass. I was quite taken with it and had about a hundred questions because I didn’t recall anyone ever saying anything about the pretty man. Mom’s only answer: “That was my father. I never knew him. He died in World War II when he was eighteen years old.” I tried off and on over the…

The dryer is humming, and my sweet husband is putting away the groceries that just arrived at the front door. What did we do before grocery delivery? A fire is dancing in the fireplace, and I am letting my mind wander in the midst of this sweet domesticity. The stuff of life has a way of comforting me, and I find my heart swelling with gratitude. Maybe it is the heightened awareness of little things that comes on the heels of an extended illness. I’m so very glad to be present and able to attend after being brought low where everything seemed to be just too much trouble. It feels…