Marlene's Musings

    It’s been almost nine months now since I moved into this house.  Although I pared off a lot of my possessions off, I have a sizeable coating remaining which I have been attempting to even out into an evenly distributed, appealing aesthetic.  Professional decorators would probably describe it as “partially contained clutter.” 
    So far I have some surfaces and walls I’m satisfied with.  Others are still in progress.  The arranged spaces have a lot of stuff which I suppose could be...

    I got home last night from vacation and am feeling satisfied, comfortable and grateful for both the break in routine and to settle back into the familiar.  I’m always ready for a venture, nearby or farther out, to look at and taste a new environment or activity.  I browse through local and getaway opportunities as I do cookbooks, searching for a different experience to blend into my ordinary meals. Often my interest is raised as I notice combinations of ingredients I hadn’t considered...

I give thanks to God:

 
for all the women in our lives,

Mothers all—biological, adoptive, “step”, surrogate,

pastors, teachers, friends, daughters, bosses, coworkers,

aunts, grandmothers, granddaughters, mother-in-laws, sister-in-laws

daughter-in-laws, aunts, nieces, cousins--

all females who contribute

to our health and well-being,

those who have and continue to plant mustard seeds

of love, faith and power in this time

and those who have planted in the past,

whose harves...

   As I was brushing my hair yesterday morning, getting ready for church, I was a bit surprised to see my Aunt Mary staring back at me from the mirror.  It was about twenty years ago that my father had said I looked like her, but I didn’t see it at that time.  Yesterday, it was there.  I smiled back at her and thought I’m honored if I’m like her in more ways than appearance. 

   I lived with my Aunt Mary, Uncle Lowell and Cousin Darlene during my grade school years after my parents di...

I’m sorting through the contents of boxes for the 4^th time in the last year and a half.  How many items will I actually need and use?  What are some of these things?  (As sure as rain in the Northwest, if I toss one, I‘ll discover it was a necessary part of something that won’t work without it and can’t be ordered because the something has been discontinued.)  Lives of sundry stuff have seen only fleeting moments of light as they’ve moved between boxes, homes and states.  Others dis...

What am I missing?  Sometimes it seems like a lot when I see all the empty space in my basket and look at my lists of dreams, intentions and goals.  As another years closes, I wonder what more I'll be able to gather in the time left.  I'm not so concerned about the things as I am experiences, places and activities.  The desire to taste more of what's in the marketplace.  Why?  I guess it's to see if I've been missing something that would somehow make life richer.

Then, I wonder what that could...