Tag: houston

Mindful Monday


Today, as on every November 11, we honor our veterans. It’s a beautiful and breezy day here, so the flag was being borne upward in this shot, set against our magnolia and mimosa trees, with neighbors’ trees in the distance.

Respecting and caring for our veterans has always been something I’m passionate about. If it seems at odds for a pacifist to feel that way, wanting a world without wars is not meant to disrespect in any way those willing to put their lives on the line to keep our country, and the countries of our allies, protected. There’s a true line from generations of my forebears to me, including ancestors who fought in the American Revolution and beyond, to my father being an Army veteran who landed in Normandy on D Day and was career military, and to my brother, who served in the Air Force, and to my sister, who worked at a VA hospital facility for many years as a nurse.

Any policy that attempts to reduce or limit our nation’s care of veterans, including health care, should never be accepted by us no matter what party we vote for. When a service member or veteran is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to self and family for you, no matter what your political affiliation, you should be willing to return that respect in kind, including as part of your tax dollars.

If you have a military cemetery near you, it can provide a quiet place to visit for mindful meditations on gratitude, care for others, courage, and peace.

All Hallows’ Eve

I hope you and yours have a safe and happy holiday, however you celebrate. It’s raining here (which we GREATLY need; Houston is under a drought), so even if we were giving out candy (we’re not), I doubt there’ll be many children trick or treating. Behind the cut, I’m sharing the last days of my skeleton photos posted to Instagram. Y’all get a lot more details here than I provide on my Instagram posts. I had a little help today thanks to posters from the coloring book pictured above. It’s always a party if there’s music!

Continue reading “All Hallows’ Eve”

Tiny Tuesday!


From the book of Tiny Pleasures, I spotted this one:

When I did my recent book purge, I discovered that in the past, I had a tendency to grab whatever was handy to use as a bookmark (despite several posts this year featuring the abundance of bookmarks I own).

Here are a few of the things I found tucked into books I’m rehoming:


Three actual bookmarks: one with an inspirational saying, one from the Doris Day Animal League, to which I was a contributor long before I worked in animal rescue, and one with other state and Texas locations of Half Price Books.

Two business cards, one from the bookstore where I was employed as an assistant manager starting a few months after we moved to Houston, and one promoting The Deal and Three Fortunes In One Cookie, with contact information on the back.

A red ribbon decal that was probably part of a donation appeal from an HIV/AIDS-related organization.

A thank-you card from Amy after she spent a summer living on the second floor of our fifth Houston home (The Compound was our sixth, and Houndstooth Hall is our seventh; between our first and third, we spent the summer of 1990 living with Lynne and Craig. I guess we paid their hospitality forward with Amy; then here at the Hall, Lynne and Minute lived with us for a few weeks between homes). So many good friend memories.

I emailed Amy photos of the message she wrote inside the card, and we reminisced about those times. The envelope is postmarked September 1, 1994, when a postage stamp was 29 cents.

Early* Saturday post

*early as in 12:30 AM

I haven’t gotten done some of the things I wanted to this week. When I was taking care of at least a few of those things during Thursday errands, I spotted these on my way home.


A Little Free Library. Even skeletons like to read.


And they’ll also invite you over to shoot the breeze.


I’ve had my eye on this Jolly Grinning Giant for a while. If I ever saw his people, I’d have asked if I could bring my skeletons over for a photoshoot with him. But his people are never outside.

Friday had some sadness. The first time I let the dogs out, they spotted a young squirrel. He barely got away from them, just a few feet up a tree, where he rested in the V where the tree splits. It was obvious he was either injured in some way, or maybe dehydrated, or just terrified. With help from Debby, I was able to get my frantic dogs inside, while the neighbor’s dogs were very vocal on the other side of the fence. We coaxed the squirrel out of the tree so Debby could carry him in a cloth pillowcase outside the fence to the side of the house. Then Tim got him into a box, tucked inside a towel, to take him to the SPCA’s Wildlife Rehab unit. Unfortunately, the young squirrel died en route. At least he didn’t die from either my dogs or the large neighbor dogs attacking him, but in an air-conditioned truck with a kindhearted, calm driver taking him for help.


Also on Friday, I was able to finish this book. Another political thriller that I couldn’t put down. Now it’s time to take a break from reading and work on my own novel.

Photo Friday, No. 929

Current Photo Friday theme: Market

Outdoor urban farmers’ market near St. Thomas University, taken September 2014. These markets are scattered throughout Houston as part of Plant It Forward (PIF). The organization empowers refugees to develop sustainable urban farming businesses that produce fresh, healthy food. PIF secures land, trains and mentors farmers, and facilitates sales to local markets. PIF farms are cultivated with sustainable practices that enrich the land and support the surrounding community.

More beauty at the Hall

Tom has spotted hummingbirds several times in the ruellia (aka, Mexican petunia, or wild petunia) plants outside the kitchen window. I haven’t been so lucky, but I did get some good photos of the plants yesterday.

ETA two days later: Spotted several, but whenever I had my camera (to shoot through a dirty window pane and a screen), they flew away. This one was going flower to flower, but by the time my phone camera caught him, he was behind leaves.

Never forget


Tom was running an errand and texted me to say he was seeing a double rainbow in the sky. I went outside and couldn’t see the same from my angle, but I did see a single rainbow. Sending good thoughts to all the communities being impacted by Hurricane Francine, a Category 1 at landfall.

I’d been wondering what I wanted to post today, it being the anniversary of September 11, 2001. Our grand-nephew Steven was born on that day, a bright light for our family on a very dark day for our nation.


This photo was taken by Lynne in New York City in 2003.