Last week my husband and I sat on a bench at the saltwater beach not far from our house. We admired the view of the Puget Sound and one of the large islands offshore...

Let me preface this by saying I have always loved cats and until last year when our last ancient kitty died, have always had at least one and sometimes several of them. I’ve been...

One of my friends was about to reveal a gossipy tidbit to her forty-something daughter. It concerned her ex-husband, who was the daughter’s father. The daughter apparently had a sense of what was coming...

Shortly after we moved to eastern Kentucky, I visited my family in northern Wisconsin. I remember stopping in one of the stores in town and the owner asked where I lived. When I said...

Last month we sold our house and the night before two back-to-back showings were scheduled, there was a torrential downpour. This wasn’t an ordinary rain. It was something I’d never seen in our thirty-plus...

On our way to the Washington coast from the eastern part of the state, we stopped in the town of Connell to get lunch. Connell is not much more than a speck in a...

Our house sold the second day it was listed. A week later the prospective buyers backed out so the house is on the market again. This means what seems like an interminable amount of...

We’re moving along in the process of downsizing. One of our sons and his family were here last week. They helped us sort, donate, and sell more of our stuff. In addition to our...

A recent issue of Harper’s Magazine had an essay about the inability of most people to feel content. To feel they have enough. Ever. No matter what it is — money, fame, houses or...

We’re in the process of downsizing. I’ve spent the last two months going through closets, drawers and long forgotten boxes.. Sort, donate, sell, sort, donate, sell, repeat. It’s amazing how stuff has a way...