The twitching of a dog’s foot against my human thigh,
grunting and snuffling and snorting that signal his dreams.
I lie awake, wishing for my own sleep,
but now also knowing
if I’d found it
I would have missed
this
moment. Continue reading
It was 7 degrees F when I got up this morning and let my dogs out in the yard. I had to bundle up in my barn coat and hat to go outside as well because 7 degrees is just too cold to leave dogs out on their own. Paws could freeze. Great sadness would ensue.
A large patch of my wooden deck shimmered with black ice, sprinkled in frosty crystal patterns—my reward for braving the cold. It reminded me of beauty and danger, which made me happy for reasons I can’t quite explain. I even wrote a little nothing of a poem about it. Continue reading
Black slippery dangerous
ice coats my upper deck
warns me to step carefully through life
at least today
The ice we don’t see threatens us the most
What I remember: I awoke to my mother’s presence in my room, telling me: “Daddy had another heart attack; this time he’s not coming home.”
Most of the rest is a blur. Continue reading
A young father walked into the physical therapy office with his toddler son, and I wondered how he would keep the boy amused throughout a therapy session. Had be brought crayons, perhaps? Would he hand the boy a mobile phone for play?
Minutes later, as I started my own therapy, I heard the little guy giggling and burbling. I turned and saw him walking a treadmill, his dad behind, holding his hands.
A few more minutes, and they were walking back and forth through the open room, a therapist keeping pace and repeating, “heel, toe; heel, toe; heel, toe.”
This tiny, beautiful boy. Undergoing physical therapy. So sweet. So heartbreaking. Continue reading
The Full Cold Moon chaperoned the winter solstice, rare but unseen, veiled by clouds. Three nights later, waning and shy, it donned a lacy veil to peek through branches in the Christmas Eve sky. Tonight, for Christmas, it presents itself proudly on a clear black backdrop, a glowing prophet in the night. Continue reading