Phew! Is it ever hot and muggy on this Tennessee morning! Though I knew it was wishful thinking, I hoped that those dark clouds blowing in last night would have brought with them a little cooler air. Um, no. This morning’s air is stifling, muggy like a swamp. As I walked across the parking lot, wiling my mind to think … Read More
Are They Our Children?
Immigration reform is once again headline news.And it continues to divide our country. I tend to refrain from weighing in on such political hot topics, but I think too many of us are overlooking some important facts. I, like those fighting for unrestrained immigration, empathize with the plight of those who arrive on our shores tired, alone, afraid, and impoverished. … Read More
Finding Joy in the Junk
Well, Journeyers, I think my brain is fried… We returned from Salt Lake City mid Tuesday afternoon to a home with a bad main breaker coming into the house. Some of you might have noticed in the one photo that Warren was on his cell phone as he sat suspended in the Great Salt Lake. It is a rare occasion … Read More
United
It’s an early summer Sunday, Guys! And you know that always means at least one of two things: 1) I’m working on the weekly edition of this Happy Happens series. 2) We’re probably on the road, again, destined for some athletic event. For the second time in two days, I’m on my way to Syracuse. Yesterday had me buzzing down … Read More
Honoring Fathers, Flowers, Friendship, and Fun
This past week has been a rollercoaster ride of frustration and overtime and, given the pimples popping out on my face, an overdose of hormones. When I haven’t been racing from work to appointments to home, I’ve pretty much felt like dropping from exhaustion. Knowing that these happy moments would escape me when I sat down to write days later, … Read More
Cheeseburger, Rose, Sweater, Tractor
It’s the beginning of a new month, Journeyer. Which means that in addition to bill money in my bank account, I also have raging hormones to look forward to every day for a week. I’m talking the pimply-faced, swollen-body-limbs-aching-boobs-pants-don’t-fit, irritability-initiating, completely exhausting kind of physiological changes. In between Wednesday’s shifts I napped from a little after nine until … Read More
What Kind of Mother?
Two a.m. Twenty-four years ago. One of the most equally exciting and excruciating times of my life began: Child labor. Some thirteen hours later, time that included sleep in spits and spurts, the timing and logging of contraction intensity and duration, a full breakfast, and a walk in the overcast, cold and drizzling day, my firstborn arrived into this … Read More
In Someone Else’s Shoes
This week’s highlight isn’t something I could photograph. It’s not tangible or concrete. One of the things that brought me a great deal of happy this week was an epiphany, an awakening of sorts. How many times have you heard, or even said to another person, “Put yourself in someone else’s shoes?” And how many times have you really been … Read More
A Way of Life
On one of the recent San Diego jaunts with my boys, I spotted this sign strategically posted outside an apartment door: “Happiness is not a destination; it’s a way of life.” I know I’ve heard this quote before but I think this is the first intentional display of the sentiment I’ve seen. This Happy Happens column is at the … Read More
My Three Sons
This past week is a bit of a blur, Journeyer, and I can’t believe it’s Sunday! Then, again, I’m so freaking HAPPY that it’s Sunday!! Why? Because I’ve been counting down the last fourteen days until I could spend an entire week with my two boys. Big Guy’s task had been to find one college he wanted to visit over … Read More