Author Archives: Carol

This year there is only a day between the candle of Joy and the candle of love. This week embraces saying “Yes!” to daily tasks and requests. Saying yes with joy and no regrets. Hard for me to do. The example of Jesus becoming man to live and die for others is a hard actContinue reading “Love and the fourth week of Advent 510 words”

The name Gaudete is latin for rejoice. It is the name of the third Sunday in Advent. The vestments and the lit candle is rose colored to remind that Christmas is near. We are told to rejoice. Holiday activities and shopping escalate. In my family, my mother had preparations for Christmas well in advance. TheContinue reading “Gaudete Sunday December, 18, 2023 499 words”

The second week of Advent is about the messenger. Recently I was listening to a Podcast about our life’s travel creating ripples in all we do. As a child, I would throw rocks into a body of water and watch the ripples form and expand outward. They slowly moved out of my vision.“Mom, where doContinue reading “Ripples, December 11th, 2023. 422 Words”

We are experiencing the shorter days before the winter solstice will occur on December 21. It will be nine hours and nine minutes of light between sunrise and sunset. The end of the old year and the beginning of the new signals the lengthening of the days. Even in the coldest days, one can detectContinue reading “Short Days, Longer nights, December 4, 2024. 578 words”

This week in my poetry workshop, we were asked to write a poem about a chair. We had five minutes to make a start. Our homework was to rework the poem and send to the small poets group.The chair I selected was a red vinyl rocker that was in our t.v. room. It was theContinue reading “The life of a Chair, November 27, 2023. 510 words”

Giving back to our communities has been ingrained in my family from a young age. We were encouraged to preform chores for grandparents and older neighbors at no charge. I swept garages, washed dishes and drove my great aunt to the grocery store. Now I donate time and money to needy causes. One organization IContinue reading “Giving Back, November 20, 2023. 535 words”

Grandfather Clifford and his sister Margaret were born in the United States. The younger children, including Uncle Bill were Canadian citizens. Great grandfather Turnbull was a farmer in the Delhi area of Ontario. Relatives from Michigan convinced Walter and his wife to try farming in the thumb area near Lake Huron. They traveled by wagonContinue reading “Canadian Ties, November 13, 2023 554 words”

This past week, mother nature dumped 12 inches of the cold white stuff on the lakeshore in Western Michigan. Being a bit farther east, we received a couple of inches to decorate the trick and treating hours. Heavy coats with some imagination made for Halloween fun. One young fellow wrapped himself in toilet paper andContinue reading “Feeding the Wildlife, November 6, 2023 437 words”

As I prepare for another evening of trick or treaters to beg for candy while showing off their costumes, I remember Halloween nights of my youth. We lived in the section of Northville named , Orchard Heights. The terrain was hilly. Houses were spaced farther apart. many had long walks to ring the front doorbell.MyContinue reading “Treats, not tricks, October 30, 2023. 573 words”

While walking in our neighborhood, I heard the honking not from the busy road, but from the sky. The Canadian goose migration corridor funneling birds from Canada and the northern parts of the U S to Mexico and South America. The Canadian geese can be heard in V formations flying this month. In the pastContinue reading “Winged Geese, A Fall Sign, October 23, 2023 408 words”