Stick Horse Cowgirls

Wow!  Did I ever discover a satisfying last-minute gift giving idea.  One of my facebook friends, Cindy Jackson Knull , posted this link to the New York Times : Gifts of Hope.   It lists several smaller (as opposed to the “biggies” you always hear about) nonprofits with varying angles of charitable giving. I have people on my list whom I just know will enjoy the fact that gifts have been made in their honor and, especially, in areas about which they are impassioned.  (And I KNOW they’ll enjoy it more than a trinket I might pick for them…). Check these out.  Myself, I am passionate about women’s issues, especially education.  I was pleased to donate to several of these organizations that promote education of women in Afghanistan and prenatal care in Somalia.  For the teacher on my list, I found the “First Book” program that distributes books to poor children in the United States.  For my nurse friend, there is Nurse-Family Partnership which sends...

My faithful l ittle Sheltie, Scout, is  now twelve years old.  The past couple weeks, MIL and I have noticed her having an occasional cough and it seems to take her longer to get from MIL’s to my house each evening. Scout is a near-perfect dog.  She is smart, attentive and willing.  MIL and I are central to both my dogs’ lives—their routine revolves around us, and we appreciate that. Scout is hardy.  She has only been to the vet for well-checks her entire life.  We had a Sheltie, “Gus,” at the time we got her and had planned to have puppies, but she never conceived.  She has lived all her years(save the first eight weeks!) here with me in the country.  She is an outside dog in the day (unless she cons MIL into letting her in, which happens frequently) and spends her nights in with me (occasionally staying the night with MIL). She is a peaceful soul who occasionally goes out on the back porch to visit Kitty Sasha with me—unlike Chili, who gets a pr...

I just really have to let you in on the kind of heart V has.  Last October we had a wonderful gathering in honor of her grandson’s first birthday.  The party was held at a park under a pavilion near a river and surrounded by woods.  We had a wonderful, beautiful day. As we ate, we noticed two young cats furtively watching us from the edge of the woods, occasionally inching closer and then disappearing back into the forest line.  (These pictures are not the cats of whom I speak, but I thought since I am on a cat theme, I’d use them anyway…) V began to take food out toward them and before we left, we saw them eat. But those cats, clearly abandoned to their own devices, weighed on V’s heart.  Since that day, most days she drives miles out of her way to feed these cats, usually after a hard day’s work.  She goes out on weekends, too.  Cats have to eat then, too. She worried about them when we were out of town. As word has gotten out, five cats ...

  When we think of holidays, we think of bustle, I know.  In my own life this is largely because I just haven’t gotten things done ahead of time, like I always plan.  But Christmas holiday preparations have their quiet serenity, too.  This morning is one of those times. The bustle this week was at my work.  This morning, as I wrap gifts, son is snoozing on the couch, after having coffee and conversation with his Mom.  The hard rain I awoke to has softened to a drizzle with occasional patter, and inside my home is warm, snug and comfy, although it is not cold enough here for a fire in the fireplace.  I am, I know, drinking too much coffee this morning, but it is so good as I linger in pajamas and as I Scotch tape beautiful paper around these gifts. As I wrapped, I realized that for years my gift list grew and grew with each year.  My sister and my youngest sister-in-law were prolific in their progeny (each with 4!) as compared to the other sib...

Appearances deceive sometimes.  Our minds can fill in what we want to see but isn’t there; our assumptions can lead us astray. Sometimes this is merely interesting.  Sometimes it can lead to peril. I was in an airport awaiting a flight to Florida some time ago.  Walking ahead of me was a woman in a brown leather jacket with a long, beautiful ponytail swishing attractively in high contrast to the dark leather.  I just could not help noticing and admiring these beautiful locks.  Imagine my surprise when she turned to expose an equally-impressive beard, a grizzled, worn face that I would never have put with that ponytail!  This was, in fact, a man! It happened again, to a lesser degree, on the same trip.   I was deplaning in Houston to make my connection, standing in the aisle.  I was behind a young African American woman.  I “knew” this because she had attractive braids streaming down her back, a cute figure dressed in jeans, and a ...