I’m walking along the sandy white beach of Gulf Shores, Alabama, looking for treasures from the sea. Today I chose a remote stretch of beach, one littered with barnacle-covered driftwood and debris such as bottles, ropes, and bent crab traps.…
I often wish I could live two lives so I can squeeze everything in. One way to live a second life is by traveling and connecting with new people. While playing pickleball in Alabama, my husband and I met Cathy…
Are you feeling draggy these days? Have the doldrums got you down? I have good news for you. March 19 is National Let’s Laugh Day. Mayo Clinic points out that laughter enhances our intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates our heart,…
I avoid looking in the full-length mirrors as I find a spot in the back of the Alabama fitness center. I don’t want to see this dowdy, klutzy body. My aching back and sore knee would rather nap in the…
“Charles, it’s your serve, right?” I asked my tennis opponent. He looked around, confused. “Charles?” I repeated. “Who’s Charles?” he asked. I’d done it again. My writer’s brain names people as if they were characters in one of my manuscripts.…
If you think back to your childhood home and neighborhood, did it influence your personality? I spent my teen years in a house that overlooked a duck pond. The pond and surrounding farm area not only educated me about the…
If I don’t get this second tennis serve in, my partner and I will lose the game. I’ve double-faulted once before, so I need to focus. Really focus. I tighten up, clench the racket, and toss the ball. I bring…
Valentine’s Week is an ironic time to highlight a public figure of the 60s and 70s since our mystery icon, or M.I. for short, led a double life, betraying his wife and daughters while he had a secret 29-year love…
Last week I was at a gathering when a woman said the daughter of one of her clients gifted her with a trip to anywhere in the world. I sucked in a quick breath. Surrounding eyes grew wide or blinked…
Imagine waking up one morning with a high fever, severe chills, nausea, and diarrhea. You think it will pass, but you become incoherent and unresponsive. Your partner calls 911 and an ambulance rushes you to a hospital. You end up…