Another holiday season has passed. How did it go? Were you in a Seasonal State of Bliss? Or did you feel more like this? I’m amused by this depiction of a grumpy cat that has had enough and has become a feline Grinch. Maybe, 2016 left you drained and exhausted because you tried to: Do [...]
While attending a quilting retreat last month in Cody, Wyoming, I was introduced to the recently published book, The Fabric of Memory. It’s a great story. The Textile Artists of Greater Yellowstone decided to take on a design project featuring the experiences of Japanese-Americans interred at The Heart Mountain Relocation Center during 1942 – 1945. After [...]
Have you noticed that pumpkins and October go hand in hand? Piles of pumpkins add so much beauty to this time of year. Recently, I was helping out at a pumpkin patch. It was a slow afternoon with very few customers. It was just me and several hundred future jack-o-lanterns. With nothing else to do, [...]
Elizabeth Gilbert in Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear encourages readers to consider focusing more on their curiosity rather than always on their passion. She wrote: ” Curiosity is the truth and the way of creative living.” This resonates with me. I’m from the Midwest. Midwesterners don’t usually do passion in a big way. But [...]
The world looks different from thousands of feet in the air. Recently, I was a passenger in a Cessna piloted by my brother, Dave. We flew over the Leelanau Peninsula and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. This is country that we have known all of our lives. The Dunes is the largest moving sand [...]
Have you heard yourself saying things like: I am too busy. I have no time for myself. My life has gotten too complicated. I’m too tired to enjoy life. Or words to that effect? Maybe it is time to consider practicing simplicity. Did you know that July [...]
Have you ever been on a pilgrimage? Traditionally, a pilgrimage is a journey that leads to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion. Examples include: • Travelling the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain (for Roman Catholics); • Making the Hajj to Mecca (for Muslims); and • Bathing in the Ganges River (for [...]
I believe that opportunities for joy can be found in almost all circumstances. And this month I’ve had more than one opportunity to test this belief. So here’s the question: can one find joy in airports and business travel? My “home” airport is Chicago’s O’Hare (ORD). In the past month or so, the wait time [...]
I recently had the opportunity to visit Palm Springs, California. It’s a Mecca for golfers and a lovely place to soak up the sun – especially when the North is under a couple feet of snow. Essentially, it’s an manicured oasis surrounded by desert and mountains. Not too shabby. As I lounged about in [...]
I am making a patchwork Christmas quilt. The pattern is “Piece by Piece”, designed by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr of Modern Quilt Studio located in Oak Park, Illinois. This project requires that I cut and stitch together 1084 pieces from 47 different printed fabrics. This will take a while – probably 60 hours or [...]
