Tag: houston

Persevere

DSC_0017Monday I went to Thomas Street Health Center, a clinic that’s been serving the HIV/AIDS community in Houston since 1989.

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I’d read that the center was exhibiting works from their “Healing Art for the Heart” project. As described in the photo on the left, this art therapy project is meant to “help HIV-positive (+) patients channel their emotions and provide a therapeutic outlet.” Many of the paintings on display are the patients’ creative ways of illustrating their journeys with HIV/AIDS. I wanted to feature a few of them. You can click on any of the photos to see larger versions.

If you aren’t able to read the accompanying descriptions and are interested in one or more, let me know in comments, and I’ll type them out.

Gratitude

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and always has been. It didn’t change in the years when I was far from friends and family. Or the years when there was barely enough money to scrape together a meal. It was my favorite during years when I was nursing heartache or dealing with loss or physical pain.

It has nothing to do with geography or history or ideology or any of those things.

For one day, I remind myself to put aside the busyness, the worries, the anxieties, and remember all that I have to be thankful for. I think of all the people I’ve known who, despite overwhelming challenges, cultivated grateful hearts. Gratitude is not based on circumstance or luck; it is something we teach ourselves, and it is possible–no matter what.

Military Brats R Us

Tuesday night I was at a signing at Murder By The Book when author Julia Spencer-Fleming talked about how being the child of an Air Force family was one of the influences both on her writing and in the shaping of her characters in her Rev. Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series. I have found that kids who grew up in military homes share a lot of the same values and experiences, and back when she was first suggested as a writer whose mysteries I might enjoy (at MBTB, in fact), as an Army brat who’s a writer, my interest was piqued by those things we had in common.

I see from my Nook purchases that I began reading this series in August of 2011. I read the first seven books in quick succession and I’m so glad the eighth is now available. If you like your mysteries with some romance, some suspense, and a strong and compassionate heroine with a sound moral compass and a mind of her own, you’ll enjoy this series. However, be warned. Weather plays havoc on the small town of Millers Kill and its residents in this latest book in the series–reading it made me feel cold in HOUSTON, no small feat.

Also, if you ever get the opportunity to hear Julia Spencer-Fleming talk, grab a seat early and enjoy.

Through the Evil Days is available at your local booksellers and online, or don’t forget, you can order for your ereaders through Murder By The Book’s Kobo partnership and support this fantastic independent bookstore.

Photo Friday, No. 366

Current Photo Friday theme: Autumn 2013


Fall in Houston looks exactly like summer in Houston. But I thought I’d go by the Houston Arboretum in Memorial Park in case they have any trees that change colors even before the temperatures drop. Of course, today is the one day the arboretum is closed, because tomorrow is the ArBOOretum Fall Festival.

So this is what I got–and what you get. Happy Autumn!

Columbus Day

I shot these last year in Houston’s Bell Park.

This seven-feet tall, half-ton bronze sculpture is the work of artist Joe Incrapera. It was commissioned by the Italian/American Organizations of Greater Houston, Inc., and donated to the city in 1992. Here’s where Columbus is pointing:

I’m not making any jokes about men asking for directions.

ETA: If you want to feel mass amounts of hostility toward Christopher Columbus (notice I didn’t say “Happy Columbus Day” anywhere in this post because I’ve long known we were sold a bill of goods with that 1492/ocean blue stuff, because: Native Americans and Vikings!), you can read this opposing tale of misery here, in a link provided courtesy of Cousin Ron.