Days Four and Five, December 29 and 30. Denver, Colorado. After 4 days on the road, I landed in Denver around 6pm and am staying with my friend Jen and her husband, daughter and 2 dogs.  I am in awe of the Rockies, enough that I found myself holding the camera with one hand and [...]

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Day 4. December 29 Colby, Kansas “The Oasis on the Plain” according to the sign at the visitor’s center. . . . where I’m stealing internet service. I’ve gone through Virginia and Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Days two and three were spent overnight in Maumelle, Arkansas and Salina, Kansas. The weather forcast for Texas and [...]

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Day 1. December 26 Knoxville, Tennessee The Motel 6. Almost 600 miles in and the dogs and I have had dinner and are sitting on the bed watching tv, but only after a quick thumping of the mattress and a rumpling of the pillows failed to reveal any creatures other than the three that have [...]

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For my Mama and Hosa. Merry Christmas 2009. Last night my family sat down to watch The Homecoming. Everyone was in town for Christmas Dinner a night early, and it was kind of cool to be watching the original Walton’s movie with my sisters and mom, since we actually lived right there in Walton Country [...]

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Last night I slept my final sleep in Virginia Beach. For 10 months now I’ve thought about what it’s going to feel like to drive over the Lesner Bridge for the last time and in a few hours I’ll already know and I can move on to the next thing. I watch for good signs [...]

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Living Out Loud. ( v11). Tis the gift to be simple. The 2009 Christmas season has been an unusual one. Instead of the traditional parties, getting together with friends, and full-on house decorating, most of my time has been spent going through everything I own and weeding it down to the 4 or 5 plastic [...]

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What happens when 5 girls in their mid-40s get together at an OBX cottage for a mini high-school reunion? The question, answered 7 months later. . .

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Moving day is less than two weeks away and just about everything is going smoothly. I’ve rented a cargo van to cart some furniture to my sister’s for safe keeping tomorrow after work, arranged to have new tires put on my truck and scheduled Samaritan House to come get whatever is left in the house [...]

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Several month back I found my dear friend Susan on Facebook. We went to elementary school and junior high together but hadn’t seen each other since 1978, when I moved back to my hometown from the mountains. Over the course of the summer and fall we’ve managed to get together quite a bit and share [...]

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Everything you read about caffeine will tell you, it’s the devil. Like the orgasm that almost was, caffeine gives you a false energy boost, then knocks the wind right out of your sails and leaves you flat, exhausted and crying for more. Along with that, it slows your intestinal flow to a crawl and turns [...]

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Living Out Loud. ( v11). Tis the gift to be simple. ~ by Janet My four year old daughter, Maggie, hums herself to sleep. She says she hums because it keeps her bad dreams away. I find this pretty amazing. She was born in China, thousands of miles between us and I too hum myself [...]

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