Old Barns and Secrets

Old Barns and Secrets

There is something to be said for old barns, the kind that has been around for a hundred years or more. In the first place, they demand respect for their perseverance in the face of the whims of life, and, in the second place, they work great in cozy mysteries. At the Saunders Farm, there […]

Finishing Touches

The day began nicely with an invitation from a Christian periodical to do some writing for them. That should be fun. For quite some time, I’d been promising my refrigerator a good cleaning. She and I go back quite a number of years and I’d been neglecting her. Sometimes, we take people and things for […]

Opals and Marigolds

Opals and Marigolds

Lucky you, if you have an October birthday. Your birthstone is an opal and your two flowers are marigold and cosmos.  Cooler air is arriving right on time. It’s cooler this morning and maybe, just maybe, a first frost tonight? Brrr. Wasn’t it only yesterday that temps reached eighty degrees? Fall always puts me in […]

Stop While You’re Ahead

Stop While You’re Ahead

Stop while you’re ahead. I used to hear this phrase a lot; not so much nowadays. It means to cut it out, stop doing or saying whatever. It’s useful in a lot of circumstances, but certainly in speaking or writing. One of the hardest things a writer has to do is delete those unnecessary words […]

On the Trail

On the Trail

“Our last night in Amarillo,” I said and sighed. We three women huddled under warm afghans tucked around us in Sophie’s wicker rockers on her front porch. The starry sky seemed almost close enough to touch. The lonely cry of a coyote rose and fell on the wind. A Crossfire Roadster wheeled into Sophie’s driveway […]

When the Earth Shifted

When the Earth Shifted

We went down the steps and around the corner of the house to watch such strange behavior on the part of these usually gentle animals. Still squealing, the horses and mule ran into their barn and immediately began to kick the sides of the wooden structure. A loud crash came from the far side of […]