Hosting is a skill that I feel I have tried to cultivate over the years after observing the masterful care that others have demonstrated in welcoming me to their spaces. To host someone well doesn’t mean that you meet every condition that Miss Manners expounded upon. A full set of silverware isn’t necessary, nor is…
Tag: author
Bright
The brightness of a grey winter sky is blinding.I can hardly manage a glance out of the window—not sure I want to anyway.The bleak greyness spreads its somber shadowson the brown grass and tangled yard clippingsI failed to discard at the end of summer. Yet for all the neutral colors of a seasonin its twilight,there’s…
Seasons: Rest
The fragment of weak light just barely revealsa moment of hope buried within me—tucked away ‘til spring pushes forth the earth.Bits of green disrupt the barren ground, forbeneath the surface, growth was happening.We just couldn’t see what we alreadyknew to be true: the best is yet to come. A season of slumber must cover the…
An earthly cry
A lament to the flowers that didn’t bloom: I planted some seeds that didn’t germinate.Nothing materialized at all.The soil seemed good enough,the conditions ideal.But, there were no light green tendrilsstretching toward the sun.Just disappointment. Fatigue. Worry. Scorn.A bitter earth. I planted more seeds,initially they were strong.But they also failed miserably.From delicate new budsto a shriveled…
Musing No. 2
When you lay under a treeAnd look up,What do you focus on?Is it the sky, the clouds, the branches, the leaves?Do you position yourselfIn such a wayTo see or to be hidden?Do the sun’s rays catch your faceOr do the shadows grace your cheek?Do you notice the air aboveOr the ground below?Are the bumps in…
Paris, France | 2021-22
In the middle of the pandemic, when travel restrictions were fairly light, my parents took an international trip to the Caribbean. During a post-trip debrief over pizza, we collectively wondered aloud “what if we took a family trip over the Christmas holiday?” Mind you, this was mid-November. So, that didn’t leave us much time to…
England | 2022
After an excellent holiday abroad in Paris the previous year, my family booked a trip to England & Ireland at the end of 2022. By then, international travel had largely opened up and we all felt comfortable taking the trip during the school break (3/4 of us are in education of some sort). The year…
Book Review: Bite by Bite
I was enamored with Aimee Nezhukumatathil ‘s book of essays World of Wonders a few years ago when I was gifted a copy, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants style. I was encouraged to read the book, then write a little note in the front cover and pass it on to someone who I thought would…
L.M.Beatty 