Tag: family

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Stranger Things

On the heels of a missing grill that vanished from an AirBNB while we were gone to a birthday party and an unexpected early-morning knock at the door that turned out to be a Northern Flicker attempting to demolish the cabin we were occupying for the weekend, I came home from Kentucky to three boxes on the porch – two of which were late Christmas presents arriving after the fact. The third presented yet another mystery in these days of stranger things. There was no gift card from the recipient enclosed.

I called my brother and sister in law, who said they didn’t send the art canvas of a red Japanese tree against the backdrop of snow-covered mountains looking like Fuji, with two black metal benches on each side. Nor did any of our children. I texted a friend in one of my writing circles who just got back from Tokyo and collects art. It wasn’t her, either. I sent a text out to the full family group with my husband holding the picture: Anyone know anything about this? it read.

The mysterious art canvas (Boo Radley’s feet far right corner)

I did a little research and learned that I may be the victim of a brushing scam, where people receive things they never ordered in the first place as freebies from companies seeking verified purchaser top review status. All evening, I watched videos of the random things people sometimes get. There is no risk for the victims, either, other than needing to change passwords frequently. These recipients of everyday’s-like-Christmas surprises just have to make extra trips to the dump or find ways of getting rid of whatever doesn’t fit into their lives until the packages stop arriving and the review scammers move on to other recipients. I reported the package to Amazon with the tracking number, and they replied that it would take ten days to do an investigation.

I can’t help considering the irony of this scam in light of all that has transpired this year. We started cleaning out our house and barn in 2024 when we started the journey of downsizing with the dream of building a smaller living space on the farm. In 2025, my brother, our spouses and I shared the task of cleaning out our Dad’s house and seven storage rooms. They were full of books, art, dishes, lamps, furniture, pretty much everything you can imagine, and other “rare collectibles” because Dad was a hoarder who could never get rid of anything. I looked at the canvas of the red Japanese tree and chuckled, wondering if somehow this is him pranking me beyond the grave, particularly as I have wept real tears over the harvesting of all the trees on Briar’s family farm since April. Surely this canvas carries some kind of message I haven’t figured out yet.

For now, I’ll sit tight and wonder, as all the other brushing scam victims do, what might arrive next. I’d love one of those shiny silver coffee makers that grind the beans and do all sorts of fancy brewing like cappuccinos and espressos and lattes. I’ll take a king-size Nectar adjustable bed, with two cool-temp pillows and a massage feature. The latest Apple Watch (I have never owned one) might be a nice surprise if I can figure out how to turn the notifications off, plus some good winter boots with arch support, maybe Aetrex brand, in black leather. Those are the things I’m hoping my brushers will send next – – and I’ll even write their glowing 5-star reviews myself in exchange for all the free stuff.

A Call To Action Haiku, Celebrating Surprise Photographic Art

brushing scam victims

unite with glowing reviews

for free merchandise

Here is my free review of this art canvas that I’m considering actually adding to Amazon:

This canvas is the perfect size print to go over a bed or to hang on a bland wall space. It’s guaranteed to bring both boldness of vibrant color and tranquility of empty bench solitude all at once as it reminds us that there is indeed sunlight just beyond each cloud in the sky. The mountain spirit is alive and well, beckoning our very souls to reach for new heights even as we keep our feet on the ground and our lives simple and rooted in nature. Art lovers looking for cryptic messages they can apply to their own lives will delight in the vibes and reminders that living things all bloom and thrive where they are planted and that to everything, there is a season. The tree reinforces the notion that no matter where we go, there we are, and that we should never, ever forget our lipstick. There is much to be seen from a distance that you cannot appreciate close up with your boots in the snow. It’s all a matter of perspective, we find, as we gaze into the possibility of each vantage point as we stand considering angles. Yes, in this print, we feel a deep sense of belonging. We are branches on the tree of all humanity, each of us one mere leaf, hanging in our own time and place in the history of generations who have come and gone before us, even as we consider the promise of future generations if the world does not end in an apocalyptic rapture at the touch of a button by some bratty lollipop-spoiled kid who grew up to be a tyrant with a tortured soul in North Korea – or anywhere, for that matter. And these emotions are just the tip of the ice-covered mountain for the depths of discovery in this one canvas that is the most unexpected kind money can buy without, you know, actually being there in person, which would cost way more. Get yours today, and you will never look back – – only inward and upward henceforth. (Brushing Scammers, thank you for this delightful gift).

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Silas in One-derland


We’re in Kentucky celebrating our grandson’s first birthday. When my daughter was pregnant with him, she’d call to tell me how fast the bean was growing. Here we are, at a first birthday party after what seems like only a month since he arrived. Happy birthday, Silas! We love you so much!

Has it been one year

already since you were born?

Happy Birthday, Bean!

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Kentucky Travels – December

I sit in a rustic green rocker on a porch facing the Rough River in Falls of Rough, Kentucky this morning with a cup of coffee. A thousand birds are worshiping their maker in glorious song, competing with the heater that sits adjacent to the front porch. Here is my list of choir members so far:

American Robin

Belted Kingisher

Northern Cardinal

European Starling

White Throated Sparrow

Yellow-rumped Warbler (butterbutt)

Song Sparrow

House Sparrow

Tufted Titmouse

Mourning Dove

Carolina Wren

Red-tailed Hawk

House Finch

Blue Jay

American Crow

Ring-billed Gull

Canada Goose

It’s the robins who are leading in worship here this morning. They all are competing for the title of soloist extraordinare. In the distance, I hear a woodpecker, but he is beating the drum and not singing, so I cannot tell what kind he is.

The river is still, smooth as glass and muddy. and of the ten or so cabins in this remote area, only one other is occupied. There isn’t another soul outside, so I hold the only ticket to this private concert-for-one.

At least for now. The boys will be up shortly.

OOh, ooh – and just now, the woodpecker flew across the river to a hole in a tree, and I can see that it is one of the smaller varieties. And then it attempts its own clownish note, and Merlin declares it is a Northern Flicker.

The sky is a steel gray with morning clouds supposed to burn off by mid-morning. We came in after dark last night and can hear the falls rushing under the bridge we drove across, but that will take a walk or ride to see them.

for just this moment

the rest of the world stands still

I bask in birdsong

Then, all at once, every bird ceases to sing, as if their concert has ended with one Amen in unison, and they have other things to do, other places to be. I am left alone in the silence of this porch, where three small noses are sniffing under the front door to take in the world here outside and to remind me that they, too, have their own offerings to give. That’s my beckoning to get up and help Briar walk them on their leashes down to the water’s edge and hold on tight, at least where Fitz-the-brave-hunter-of-anything-that-moves is concerned.

I can see how Ada Limon, the U.S. Poet Laureate who lives in Lexington, Kentucky, finds her writing groove here in this state. There is magic in the air for those who take the time to notice.

Later today, at 2:00 Kentucky time, I’ll attend my grandson’s first birthday party. He’ll be one tomorrow, and what a joy he is! In the flurry of activity and excitement, I will think back to this porch and all its lack of demands and be thankful that God gives us children when we are young, so that in our golden years we can fully appreciate the power of the front porch.

Falls of Rough, Kentucky along the Rough River

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A Found Poem from the pages of Remain pages 126-7

Last night, I finished one of my most anticipated reads of 2025: Remain by Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan. The collaboration of these two intrigued me before the story ever did. A romance writer and a supernatural suspense scriptwriter seemed like one of those high-end restaurant menu pairings where you get two unexpected items that blend in the most spectacular way. like how the first person to ever put cinnamon on sweet potatoes discovered. My head is still spinning, and I still have to sort out a few things about it – as I anticipated for the Shyamalan part – but once I get the ice on the sidewalk figured out, I will know whether it gets four stars or five.

For today, I am using two pages to create a Found poem from the words and phrases across an open book. I laid the book down and, like those little lights in the peripheral vision that Tate experienced in the story that led him, I looked for which words I felt would be illuminated on the pages and jotted them down. And I wonder with pages like these how many poems books hold and can spin, just waiting to be found.

Ordinary Pleasures

ordinary pleasures

tell a story

coffee shop chat

meet my eyes

laugh

a battered old piano

roll up your sleeves

beautiful spirit

shine through

tender moments reserved

making dinner together

taking dogs to the park

fill my cup

envision it

know your heart

find love

change your life forever

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Book Snack: Home for Christmas


For as many years back as I can remember, Dad gave me a box of books he’d carefully curated for my reading tastes at Christmas. Sometimes I read them, liked them, and kept them, but at the first sign of silverfish or whiff of mold, I disposed of them. Over time, even the once treasured collection took over my reading room that sits just off my bedroom – because there were simply too many to manage – and I had to start donating them to other causes. I’ve winnowed the collection down to a manageable lot – one where I know what is here and one that allows me to pull a book or two and snack on its delightful pages.

Christmas is the most enjoyable time of the year for me to thumb through books and hang on lines. Home for Christmas by Lloyd C. Douglas is one I chose for today, and I’ve included photos of the front and back covers of the book along with the inscription. This was a gift to Helen Ann Footit from Mark E. Merrifield for Christmas in 1938 after its first printing in 1935. It’s a gift to hold a piece of living history and wonder about the person who first opened it, and whose eyes have swept the pages, whose fingers have graced the words, and where they laughed. I wonder about the nature of the gift and the relationship of the giver and recipient. Was this an uncle and niece? a man courting a young woman? What is meant by “The Erdmans?”

Merry Christmas! I hope your day holds all the peace and joy of this special time of year.

From this book, I collected the words and phrases that make me think of Christmases past, in the old days, long before I was born, around the time my grandparents were young. I arranged them into a found poem. These lines bring images that cheer my heart and warm my spirit. I hope they do yours, too.

Home For Christmas: A Found Poem

leisurely breakfast

a path to the barn and one dim light in the kitchen window

ancient stock of baubles for the Christmas tree

rummaging in the capacious depths of a cupboard-shelf

arms and hands full of swagger baggage

a parcel of miscellaneous trinkets

paths that lead toward brighter light

the aromatic warmth of the spacious living room

a voluminous and truculent torrent of gabble

lingering by the fireplace

rows of red candles that gleam from every window

the tinkle of sleigh-bells

a sound of footsteps on the stairs

now wouldn’t that be jolly?

Here is an actual page containing a line I took for the found poem today, photo marked-up in green
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The Guest Dog

Little Ollie is the baby dog of our three schnoodles, all rescues. He has more poodle and less schnauzer, whereas Fitz has more schnauzer and less poodle. Boo Radley is the truest 50/50 blend. Ollie happened when my grandson visited and both our dogs piled in our bed with us at bedtime.

Which one can sleep with me? he’d asked.

Neither Boo Radley nor Fitz was about to sleep anywhere other than with us, so my grandson pleaded his case. Nana, you need a guest dog.

We’d been looking for another rescue since my father ended up with Kona, the 6-month old female schnoodle puppy we’d found needing a home in Florida. We drove to Valdosta to meet the one surrendering her, and I so badly wanted to keep her. But Dad, too, needed a dog in all his grief, and Kona brought him so much joy.

With rescues, you never know what might be lurking beneath the surface – emotionally with trauma or physically with health. Certain breeds have predispositions to particular illnesses and conditions. Poodles, for example, have sensitive skin and often itch, needing a spray of apple cider vinegar. Boo Radley’s stomach gets inflamed like that. Each of our dogs has some trauma in their background, too, making a home without children present most of the time a preferred home for them.

Fitz has had more issues than both of the others, combined. He came to us from a foster mom who had nursed him back after a badly broken leg (with road rash) that the vet managed to save. Then he had a cyst on his back that needed removing. Then he developed CUPS ~ Canine Periodontal Ulcerative Syndrome, a condition that causes painful gum ulcers on reaction with the plaque on his teeth. His breath smells like a rotting goat carcass when it flares up, but we keep right on loving him through his pain and maladies. And that is what it takes with all dogs, but particularly with rescues. Unconditional love for the long haul.

Which brings me to Ollie. What we thought was a breed-common poodle allergy settling in the eyes got more pronounced and didn’t clear up after a few days as his normally did. One eye started looking like it had a whitish film over the top, making him look like a blind soothsayer in a Shakespeare play. I called the vet and got the first available appointment the next day.

The vet took one look, and I saw his brow furrow. He seemed perplexed.

Step around here so you can see, he urged. I stepped around the young vet technician holding Ollie in place so Dr Kelly could do his work.

There’s an auto immune eye condition that affects German Shepherds called Pannus that causes this same whitening with blood vessels over the cornea, he explained. Usually, though, that one forms from side to side. This one is forming top to bottom in both eyes.

When it came time for the diagnosis, Dr. Kelly gave me the choice of going straight to the Veterinary Ophthalmologist or treating the condition as he would treat Pannus and see if it would respond. Before I made my decision, I asked if there was any chance that whatever this was could be contagious. He assured me it would not affect the other dogs. I was in great part relieved that we would not have to quarantine Ollie (he despises being alone), and I also was relieved that boarding him for an upcoming trip to my grandson’s first birthday, though not preferred, was not out of the question.

I decided to try the Pannus eyedrop regimen to give it a chance to respond. Four drops a day in each eye, with a recheck in four days. I booked a dog-friendly AirBNB for our upcoming trip and decided to cut the adventure shorter than I normally would have done.

And the drops began that day. The next morning, there wasn’t much change. By the following day, we could see a break in the clouds. By Monday afternoon at 1:00, we had a different dog. His eyes were open and the film and vessels had receded back up into the top of the eye. He was chasing his ball again – – and actually finding it.

Although we will probably have to keep him on eyedrops for the rest of his life, we’re relieved that our guest dog is going to be okay. When we adopted Ollie, on Gotcha Day, the foster mom told us that three other families had come to see him and had walked away. I don’t know what they saw that we didn’t see, but I am thankful that we saw something they didn’t. A dog who needed love, and a family there to welcome him with the hearts to give it.

In the Photo Below

our guest dog Ollie ~

our Schnoodle extraordinare

living his best life

Ollie with his favorite ball
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Open Write Day 3 of 3 December 2025 with Gayle Sands of Maryland

Gayle Sands of Maryland is our host today for the third and final day of the January 2025 Open Write. She inspires us to write holiday versions of the viral I Am poem, a template for which you can find here. You can read her full prompt, mentor poem, and the poems of others here. There is a whole movement that emerged from this poem, and the I Am Project page can be found here.

Haynes Homestead Holidays

I am from the sequined felt stockings

of oranges, nuts, and candy cane dreams

From Life Savers Story Books that weren’t at all and a

red-headed Chrissy doll in an orange dress

but never that Lite Brite I wanted

I am from the Island Padre’s pastorium

under the Live Oaks with a round disc tree swing

the one with the brick fence

and a chalkboard in the back yard

for playing school with stolen chalk

I am from the daylilies no one ever saw

and the oleanders I feared would kill the dog

from the ever-blooming Christmas cactus

generations deep

until I killed it

I’m from Christmas Eve Candlelight Services

from singing Silent Night in a congregational circle

in the dark, cold churchyard

From Joneses and Hayneses

one side complete chaos, the other complete order

from junk drawers galore to every spare nail and screw in its place

I’m from the silver tinsel tree

with Sears Wishbook presents wrapped in Santa paper

and fruitcake cookies we pretended to like

from high noon resentment

and questions that weren’t meant that way

I’m from driftwood and oyster shell Nativity sets

from going with the flow to cloistered

I’m from deep South Georgia roots I’m glad I escaped

preferring mountains over islands and choices I never had

From Lowcountry boil with Old Bay on Christmas Day

From the preacher granddaddy taking candy from a lady

on Bourbon Street trying to pray with her

to the other granddaddy I caught nipping from the bottle in the garage

From the uncle drunk in a train wreck who lived to see jail

from seven storage rooms of too much stuff I never want to see again

.

………except maybe those cereal box California Raisins

the ones that stood proudly on Noah’s Ark

when the kids played Save the World, those raisins

that knew all along

they were going places

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Open Write Day 2 of 3 December 2025 with Mona Becker of Maryland

Mona Becker of Maryland is our host for the second day of the Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com. Today, she inspires us to write haiku poems. You can read her poems and those of others, along with the full prompt, here. If you have a few moments, write a poem and share it today!

Let Them

if I feel like it

I’ll bake cinnamon rolls for

Christmas Day breakfast

if I feel like it

I’ll shop for a few presents

and maybe wrap them

if I feel like it

I’ll plug in the Christmas tree

lights for the others

if I feel like it

I’ll make the happy happen

or maybe I won’t

maybe I just won’t

maybe I’ll go see movies,

have dinner with friends

maybe I’ll read books

sit around doing nothing

and let someone else

maybe I’ll make these, maybe not
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Open Write Day 1 of 3 December 2025 with Gayle Sands of Maryland: Picture This!

Gayle Sands of Maryland is our host for the first day of the December Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com. She inspires us to use photographs to inspire poems today. You can read her full prompt, along with the poems of others and their responses, here.

Gayle inspires us to walk into a photo and to be present in the photograph in some way—as a bystander, as one of the individuals in the photo, or as someone coming upon the scene. She says, “Use the photo as your starting point and open your senses.  What do you see and/or hear? Is there something you can taste or smell?  What sensations do you feel?  Is there any movement?  What thoughts come to your mind as you engage with the photo? Vintage photographs are a good source of inspiration.”

The Gift of You

there you were, so tiny

a bud on our tree

here you are, standing tall

following God’s call

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Lights Reflecting Hope


this morning, cloistered

in the silence of what used

to be sheltered woods



dogs still sound asleep

I rise and the wood floor creaks

I wrap, tie my robe


take my medicine

my toes find my snuggly Uggs

on my way to the


best part of the day ~

writing by Christmas tree lights

faint glow of the screen


illuminating

syllables, finger-tapping

meaning from chaos


deep-breathing morning’s

chill of pine-scented fresh air

(coffee competing)


tiny lights bounce off

ceramic Nativity

figures into the


stillness of the room

proclaiming hope in the midst

of these troubling times

My husband’s 1970s ceramic Nativity set made for him by a favorite aunt (missing a piece or two)