Category Archives: Community

A Mindful Meditation of our Women’s Life-Writing Circle

Posted on April 7, 2017 by

We gather in our quiet, secluded space at the recently constructed, variegated-beige stone Crozet Library, bringing the life-story we have written in preparation at home. We greet each other warmly as each woman arrives, and ask how things have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Grace, Gratitude, Mystery, Womens' Writing Circles | 4 Comments

About Tribes

Posted on February 15, 2017 by

Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging Humans don’t mind hardship, in fact they thrive on it; what they mind is not feeling necessary. Modern society has perfected the art of making people not feel necessary. It’s time for that to end. … Continue reading →

Posted in A Wonderful Book, Book Reviews, Community, Compassion, Courage, Family, Friendship, Grace, Mystery, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Little Punkins

Posted on January 22, 2017 by

Although I’ve been making quilt squares in my spare time during the past year, on the winter evenings when dark arrives early, my perennial urge to knit returns once again. This inner prompting reminds me of the Catskill Mountain days in late winter … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Gifts, Grace, Gratitude, Living Mindfully, Peacefulness, Poverty, Simplicity, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

A Sweet Bovina Story – Maple Syrup

Posted on June 21, 2016 by

A long-time friend from Bovina, NY recently brought me a treasure of a gift: pure locally made maple syrup. As I gathered my maple syrup thoughts this morning, I realized how little I know about its origins, so engaged on … Continue reading →

Posted in Bovina Stories, Community, Friendship, Gifts, Grace, Gratitude, Mother Nature, Mystery, Peacefulness, Simplicity | 2 Comments

Ordinary Grace

Posted on May 22, 2016 by

This afternoon I read Ordinary Grace  by William Kent Krueger, a book that took me to a small town, New Bremen, Minnesota in 1961, where complex tragedy strikes a small family and ripples through the community in astonishing ways. Krueger … Continue reading →

Posted in A Wonderful Book, Book Reviews, Childhood, Community, Compassion, Courage, Family, Grace, Kindness, Mystery, Peacefulness | 3 Comments

Homelessness: One Man’s Story

Posted on May 16, 2016 by

In recent months, I’ve been deeply moved by a Story Circle Network blogging friend’s writing as she courageously brings forward her son’s long-term homelessness in California’s Bay Area. Margie Witt has written several compelling articles about her son’s journey from … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Compassion, Courage, Family, Mental Illness, Poverty | 1 Comment

The Circles of Mary Sullivan, r.c.

Posted on March 8, 2016 by

I’ve been knitting another child’s hat for the Carol’s Coats project for next Christmas. As I dug around in my metal tin of knitting supplies—needles, markers, crochet hooks, small scissors, cable stitch holders, a tangerine-sized magnifier, pom-pom makers—looking for something, … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Community, Compassion, Friendship, Gifts, Gratitude, Knitting, Mystery, Peacefulness, Simplicity | 4 Comments

Gladys’ Quilt

Posted on February 15, 2016 by

Today I’m wondering how old a quilt has to be before it is considered an heirloom, so checked my college Webster New World dictionary, which says: 1. A piece of personal property that goes to an heir along with an … Continue reading →

Posted in Bovina Stories, Community, Family, Friendship, Gifts, Mystery, Quilts, Simplicity | 7 Comments

The Meaning of Community – A Bovina Story

Posted on January 17, 2016 by

Bovina Center, NY was, and remains to this day, a tiny rural town in the Catskill Mountains, a “dry” town where you could not purchase alcohol beverages, a place where quilting never died, and where the singular church, a Presbyterian … Continue reading →

Posted in Bovina Stories, Community, Family, Gifts, Gratitude, Simplicity | 2 Comments

Leaving the Farm – 1994

Posted on August 15, 2015 by

I trudge from the old farmhouse, my slender arms embracing a worn cardboard box as a light drizzle is misting my bifocals, causing me to look out at a blurred world. On this, my final trip down the hill, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal friends, Bovina Stories, Change, Community, Courage, Gifts, Gratitude, Mother Nature, Mystery | 4 Comments