Words from the Heart

Over the past ten years, Roger and I have literally planted hundreds of trees, bushes, flowers and herbs around our home.  When we first moved into The Enchanted Cottage , it was less than enchanting.  Literally, it was a Cape Cod style house on grass.   Above is an aerial view of the house (red roof) just after we began planting trees and shrubs.  As you can see, it was pretty much open to everything. Now, however, our home is very enchanting.  We have hidden gardens and beautiful greenery all year round.  Friends and relatives love to come sit in our yard.  Animals - birds, butterflies, bunnies, frogs, possum and even the neighbor's chickens - come to visit, enjoying the flora as much as we do. Here are some pictures of our Enchanted Cottage, now.   The backyard filled with herbs, roses, flowers and a cherry tree   Path to the secret garden!   Wind chimes and prayer flags One of our many critter...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Today, May 22, I participated in an interfaith memorial service held on the town commons in Gre enfield, MA.  I have attended many memorial services , but this was the fir st time I had attended and participated in a service for those who had died homeless. Reading a prayer for those who died homeless The Interfaith Council of Franklin County (ICFC) , of which I am a member, h as held this service in May for close to 15 years.  Each year, we pray will be the last.  N ation wide, the observ ance is hel d on the win ter solstice . But, for those of us in ICFC, the observance is in the spring . These are the words I wrote and read at the service. I ask that as you read them, you hold the the memory of the homeless - men, women and children - in your heart. We gather here today to remember - Remember those who have no homes - Remember those who have found no comfort - Remember those turned away -...

  Me and my dear "soul sister" Nancy  at the 2012 UN Women's Sacred Circle   I have, always, loved the Robert Frost poem, " A Road Not Taken ."  The last few lines resonated with me, even as a child. "I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."        Something in the idea of going where few have gone before appealed to my young sense of adventure.  As I grew, experiencing life, I realized that this was much more difficult than simply deciding to go in another direction. The lure of the material world, the world of fame and fortune, the insidiously fabricated world of "you-must-have" and "you-must-do," is often hard to resist.  In addition, sometimes this world is so simply packaged that we don't even realize we are traveling down a slippery slope until we come crashing to the ...

When Adam Shepard contacted me about his book, I was cautious.  After all, here he was contacting me out of the blue.  We had no connections - that I know of then, anyway. So, I did what any cautious writer would do, I researched him.  What a surprise!  I learned that Adam is a young man, who has taken life seriously enough to live his dreams without apology, risking comfort, the familiar and security to learn about the world around him as well as to discover who he is. I, also, learned that we did have some common ground.  Adam Shepard attended Merrimac College in Andover, Massachusetts, graduating with a degree in Business Management and Spanish. (OK, I can claim this as a slight connection - I have relatives that attended Merrimac and I was on campus, once.)  He was also a basketball player, which I must confess is the one sport I enjoyed in my high school/college days. (Another connection!) Shortly after graduation, he set off with literally $25 ...