Steve has been through another health event and as we sat at the table at home tonight awaiting a friend to provide an assist to go to bed I remarked, “Oh my goodness gracious, next week I have to talk to students about art in religion with a focus on stained glass. What the Hades am I going to talk about?” He said nothing. Then I had a genuine revelation and I said, “Gosh darnit. I’m going to do what you do.” Then his eyebrows perked up as in, “What the Hades are you talking about?” And I said, “Remember years ago when I was fascinated with what happens when light shines through water and creates patterns and you taught me what was happening, caustics, and then there was a photo exhibit in a youth community center and I made you participate with one of your such photos and these two young children walked by and instead of you telling them what they were seeing you let them look and then asked them, What do you see?, and one boy said, I see the back of an alligator! And you said, Well, that’s very astute of you. And the boy said, What does astute mean? And the two of you wandered off to the cheese tray table as you explained how observant he was.” Steve smiled and said, “Yes.” And I said, “My dear, I believe it is in your spirit to be mentor. Do you agree?” He did agree. And as we sat there he helped me pull together my oh, so brief presentation. I read it back to him. Genuinely, I said, “Okay, this feels good. That’s not bad, is it?” And he said, “No, dear one. You’re good.” And please believe me if I was off track that person would tell me so. 🙂 Time does fly.
Posts Tagged ‘Photography’
twelve years ago, really? goodness gracious.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, colors, Contributing Writer, Inspiration, life, musings, nature, Photography, storytelling on February 16, 2026| 2 Comments »
the significance of the offer
Posted in Inspiration, tagged caregiving, compassion, Contributing Writer, family, gratitude, human spirit, Inspiration, life, muse, Photography, storytelling on January 12, 2026| 3 Comments »
They almost made me cry, these two young men. We were their last stop for the day to pick up junk. I knew from an earlier phone call that they had already had a very full day. But as one of them went through the company schpeil, he added, “And if there’s anything else you need our help with just let us know.”
I looked up at him, “Are you sure?”
“Uhm, yes, that’s why we’re here. To help.”
I nodded. “Okay, next to my husband’s side of the bed, there’s a pole he uses to help with transfers that relies on tension between the floor and ceiling. It became loose and fell. When you’re done can you two put it back up?”
Without skipping a bit, they nodded.
And that’s what they did.
As I led them up the stairs, I said, “You know, the older I get the more I am willing to accept help when the offer is made. And sometimes I don’t even wait for the offer before requesting it.”
They laughed.
After acknowledging their presence, Steve napped in the bed as they worked. One of them nodded sagely. “I used to work in elder care, ” he said. “This is just fine.”
The two of them went to work using language that is not part of my repertoire about tension and how to insert screwdrivers at the base and turn to tighten . . . and after noticing the apparent look on my face one of the fellows looked around and saw Steve’s in-door woodworking area.
He said, “Uhm, if it’s okay for me to go in there and find a screwdriver I can do it for you.” I went in and picked up a screwdriver. “Will this work?”
He nodded.
Yes, I gave them a tip and good review but mostly what they left me with was a lighter spirit. A genuine offer made and genuine follow through.
And as they left, I heard those usual soft words and so I shouted to the men as they made their way down the stairs, “Steve says thank you!”
And they replied, “You’re welcome, Steve!”
a bit of blue and green
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, colors, Inspiration, nature, Photography, urban landscape on January 9, 2026| Leave a Comment »
It was so warm today as I walked about it almost felt like autumn. But I know there’s plenty of winter remaining!
small things
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, colors, cyclamen, flowers, Inspiration, nature, Photography on December 24, 2025| 1 Comment »
I love when the sunlight falls upon the leaves of this cyclamen. It makes me pause in my day and it is important sometimes to simply pause.
hard at work
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, diy, handcrafted, handmade, home, Inspiration, interior decorating, nature, Photography on December 21, 2025| 3 Comments »
I purchased not a ton, but a lot, of greenery. One bundle was composed of six branches. I collected six pinecones and gave the mass to Steve along with a birch branch, inviting him to create an indoor decoration. If there’s one thing, in many different ways, Steve teaches me, it is patience … and that sometimes less is more. He sorted through everything and selected just three branches with the same type of needles and just one pinecone. “For the center,” he said.
I think it turned out well. 🙂
still hanging on
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, colors, dried flowers, flowers, Inspiration, Photography on December 2, 2025| 1 Comment »
I think I bought the bouquet of strawflowers maybe 2 or even 3 summers ago in the Copley Square Farmers Market. So darned expensive but the vendor knew he’d caught me. I wish I had the patience to grow them myself. Maybe one day … 🙂
a bit of green on the windowsill
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, colors, flowers, Inspiration, nature, Photography, succulents on October 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“the land that never has been yet”
Posted in Inspiration, tagged american dream, American history, black history, history, Inspiration, Langston Hughes, Photography, poetry on September 2, 2025| 4 Comments »
Here’s a challenge. In this age of quick reads, read this whole poem, Let America Be America Again, by Langston Hughes. Indeed try reading passages out loud. Written about 90 years ago, it could have been written today. And therein lies the sadness and yet the hope. Read on …
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/147907/let-america-be-america-again
feels like feathers
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, ferns, indoor gardening, Inspiration, nature, Photography, plants, sensory on August 10, 2025| 2 Comments »
Just as we were entering what I like to call “the woodwright shop,” the room where we sat up a mini-woodworking area so Steve can do small projects upstairs instead of in the basement, I noticed the fall of sunlight across the room. “Wow, look at the ferns!” I kind of thought I was talking to myself but to my surprise Steve started rolling that way. I didn’t expect him to reach for the sunlit fern fronds with his left hand but he did. When I asked him what they felt like, he said, “Feels like feathers.”
They are Rabbit’s Foot Ferns. And somehow I’ve amassed a tiny collection. I think it happened during the pandemic when I just wanted some inexpensive greenery in the house to clean the air, add some humidity, etc. And they sure are forgiving when I forget to water. Their furry rhizomes spill out over the pots and from them new leaves emerge.
There’s some serious repotting that needs to be done as soon as I find the right planters. Hmmm. Perhaps I’ve identified Steve’s next small works woodworking project, some nice wooden planters. We’ll see. 🙂
garden therapy
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, colors, family, flowers, garden, gardening, healing, healing gardens, herbs, Inspiration, musings, nature, Photography, plants on July 15, 2025| 8 Comments »
There is a blue jay that likes to sit upon the porch and pound peanuts into any bare earth it can find in one of my pots, most often the pot of marigolds. A dove will occasionally land and then fly away, a fleeting guest, not like the mating pair that tried to nest on the porch during the pandemic. Now that I’ve added some pots of long willowy grass, lemongrass and zebra, sparrows will do a curiosity flyby but have not yet landed that I’ve seen.
I’m tempted to put out a water feature but that might attract more than birds. I am quite pleased with the porch this year. It was garden therapy i thought for Steve but it has surely been for me as well. I tell people I think I have reached capacity in terms of adding more containers but even as I look out the door now I can imagine one or two more containers just ‘cause. It is primarily a culinary space with many pots of basil, mint, lavender, thyme, rosemary and oregano. I added the lemongrass for height and texture though I know it is used in cooking as well.
I keep telling Steve the violas are edible but that’s a lost argument. Most attractive to me at the moment is the lavender. I’m sure for Steve it is the basil which he just pinched yesterday and we made a small batch of pesto for dinner.
I think of it as a mini-healing garden. I learned of the concept on my journey with Steve these past few years, sitting with him or by myself, in the rooftop gardens of different hospitals. Due to recent mobility challenges Steve had not been able to sit out there though he helped plant many of the containers. I call those Saturday mornings at the kitchen table surrounded by dirt our indoor gardening time. He pots the plants and I position them on the porch. He could only look out but of late we’ve learned of these things called suitcase ramps and voila he is able to sit in our little garden.
He doesn’t crave it the way that I do. We’ve discussed the fact that, in Virginia, I grew up in a porch culture and he most certainly did not. When he does sit out there I hope there is some benefit to mind and body. It is mid-July and the violas are fading. New opportunities await for filling some containers.
Words + Images 