Flexible Flyer

In Memory

France on Fridays: Escalier au Ciel

TRAVEL

This Semester’s Syllabus from the Universe

I. Just Shut Up II. The Anatomy of Doors III. Coffee is Not a Food Group IV. The Things You Already Know 101 V. Love Anyhow ©2015, Jen Payne

Uncharted Territory

Mermaids. Lovers Island. Gull Rocks. Umbrella Islands. Sounds enchanting, doesn’t it? I have been here before. On white-knuckle rides with wakes that crash onto shores and startle gulls. There is no romance to rocks at that speed. But we took a slower pace, me and this man who breathes water like I breathe air. As...

A Big Fan

In the front bedroom of the house my Grandmother owned from the time her husband was killed in Okinawa until her own death in 1998, there was a fan. It was large window fan, stalwart like her, with a six inch rubber belt wound around two pulleys, the partnering of which turned the giant steel...

Sitting with Dragonflies

FOR MADDIE Originally Published November 2010   On Saturday, a friend posted the following on his Facebook page: “Tired today. Plan on doing NOTHING!” Two hours later, a new post appeared: “OK, so ‘nothing’ didn't last long...kitchen is cleaned top to bottom and I'm on my 2nd load of laundry and off to clean the...

The Time Has Come, the Walrus Said, to Talk of Many Things

The sun was shining on the sea, Shining with all his might: He did his very best to make The billows smooth and bright — And this was odd, because it was The middle of the night. The moon was shining sulkily, Because she thought the sun Had got no business to be there After...

Discover the Magic of Nature: Just in Time for the Holidays!

Offered as an antidote to the fast pace of our lives and the toll it takes on our minds and spirits, LOOK UP! Musings on the Nature of Mindfulness is a clarion call to get up and get out — to look up from our work, our distractions, our routines — and to find our...

This Reflection

Nose job, face lift, and breast enhancements complete, the patient beams at her plastic surgeon and proclaims, "I finally got self-confidence." Funny, it took me ten years of therapy to "get" mine. It took even longer to gracefully accept the tummy that never goes away and the nose of which I've never been quite fond....