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I have not been able to write lately. I’ve shown up and made an earnest effort.  I was able to write and post a blog article, so I must give myself credit for that. Especially since I have had many distractions over the past few weeks. I’ve been, as a mentor once described, “lifed”. For one thing I have been preparing for Easter. In the Episcopal tradition, we commonly have services on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of Holy Week. They are my favorite services of the year as they provide a way of experiencing the intense emotions of Jesus’ death and Resurrection instead of simply hearing about what happened. While I won’t be leading the services this year, I have been invited to take part in the services hosted by a church nearby. I am most grateful to this loving community for welcoming me into their midst at this special time. Ken and I always prepare a special Easter dinner of fresh ham with citrus rum glaze, potatoes au gratin and coconut cream pie. That means shopping and prep work, of course, and attention to organizing. We prepared this feast a week early, which felt strange, but it also meant we didn’t have to cook once we got home from church. Everything turned out great and we enjoyed the delicious food thoroughly. The reason for that is that I am getting ready to go on a three-week trip to Ireland and the UK. I am so excited! My brother and I have been planning this adventure for several months and it seems unreal that the day of our departure is so very near. Our aim is to explore areas where our ancestors are from. My father’s side of the family, coming from near Wrexham in Wales and Plymouth in England, is very well documented and we have been in touch with local archivists and churches where we will be able to see records of our family lineage. Ken's family also hails from Breconshire, Wales and our plan is to spend some time in that area. My mother’s side of the family comes mostly from Ireland, and we don’t know much about them. Records are scarce, for one thing. The other thing is there seems to be some intrigue around my grandmother’s ancestors. My grandfather’s ancestors could hail back to an ancient clan of poets. In Celtic, my mother’s maiden name means “Sons of the Hounds of Meath” who were bards. The possibility of my being descended from bards is quite exciting, I think, but the information I might find will probably be found in local pubs and tea shops rather than libraries and archives. Regardless, this trip will be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure that I hope will give me new inspiration for my novel. Sometimes as writers we need to shake things up a bit and get out of our normal routine and have new experiences. I am looking forward to this precious opportunity. I also hope that seeing new places and meeting new people will give me some much-needed perspective on life in general. Believe it or not, it has been nearly a year since my retirement. I’ve had the chance to do much healing, to try new things. I’ve discovered how important writing is to me and how much I love being able to have time and energy to devote to it. I am thankful to be part of a supportive, inspiring online writing community that has become important to me. All of this has been very good. I no longer want to hold back, to keep writing on a shelf and taking it down every so often. How can I commit more fully to what I feel is a genuine call to be a writer. My hope and prayer is that exploring my ancestry and being in places known for being inspiring might give me some incentive and a better sense of direction. No matter what, I will come home changed some way or other. I’m ready. It’s the season of new life, after all, and the time couldn’t be more right!

“It’s a Siberian Elm,” said the Arborist we had hired to evaluate and trim the trees on our property, “You can’t kill ‘em.” This was good news as we are both unrepentant tree huggers. We have several trees on our property – maples and oaks in the back, ornamental trees in the front. We love them all, but the elm was the biggest and most magnificent. Standing at the edge of our back deck, we appreciated the shade it gave every summer. The rocking chair on the screened-in side porch faced the tree, which became my prayer partner on balmy mornings. It was an infestation of carpenter ants that finally did our old friend in. As winter was ending, we again summoned the Arborist, thinking we would only need to have the tree trimmed. “You have a pretty bad split there,” he said, pointing to the trunk, shaking his head sadly. The tree had become dangerous, and we had no choice. Signing the estimate for the work felt like signing an execution warrant. We cried as we said prayers of thanksgiving and bid our friend farewell. Now our beloved elm no longer hovers high above our house. It always had such a big presence; it’s been hard to get used to it not being there. I will miss having it as my prayer partner when I am able to sit out on the side deck to say Morning Prayer. We wonder if the resident owls will still hoot at us on sleepless summer nights. Life goes on. We have ordered an oak tree which should be planted in a month or so. To welcome our new resident, we are planning a tree blessing party. While the oak will not be like our elm, it will grow into the creature God intended it to be. We will make new memories which will nestle in our hearts alongside the old. The sacred circle of life will go on. I don’t write a lot of poetry, but it seemed appropriate to write a poem to honor the life of a faithful old tree. Farewell, old friend, dear sister, my partner in prayer on soft summer mornings when the whispering of your branches joined my voice to form a holy community. I will miss the shade you so compassionately provided on steamy afternoons. My world will be poorer without your looming presence – so familiar these many years. The squirrels who cavorted up and down your noble trunk, the birds who nested in your branches where in time fledglings launched their maiden flights. Where will they go now? Where will the two resident owls perch as they hoot together and comfort me on sleepless nights? They will all miss you, even though in time they will surely move on to other trees. I will always remember you, God’s creature, blessed yet mortal, as we all are. The love you gave will live on in the hearts of those who knew you, those who will talk fondly of you in years to come. Farewell, old friend, may you rest in peace.

I am about three years old and it is bedtime. I’m all scrubbed and buttoned into my Dr. Dentons snuggling next to my mother who has been reading Alice in Wonderland to me. “Soup, soup of the evening,” she sings when she gets to the Mock Turtles song. I am hooked. I was reading on my own just a couple of years later, again, thanks to my mother. She taught me how to sound words out – syllable by syllable, which I picked up on quickly and was soon able to read simple stories. I’ve been a “bookworm” ever since. Which is why I’m a writer! I can spend hours lost in the pages of a book with an engaging plot and characters to whom I can relate. I know what it is like to read the last few words with a feeling of satisfaction because I sense I have been changed somehow by reading that book. My dream since earliest childhood has been to write my own book. How amazing it would be to pass on that feeling of satisfaction to others. And so, I write. And of course, I read! A colleague recently advised that as writers we should write a lot more about reading than we do about writing. She is right! It’s wonderful to share something about why and how I write and the joys and frustrations of the writing life. I love reading about those things from fellow writers. But ultimately, I want to engage with people who love to read. People who, like me, have several bookshelves crammed with all sorts of books, including books they consider favorites. So, I perused my bookshelves and came up with an initial list of ten of my favorites. This is only an initial list of my favorite non-fiction books in no particular order. My hope is to share more lists of favorites from time to time. This is not an extensive book review, merely sharing something of why these books mean something to me. 1.     The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. The first thing I did when I moved to Chicago after grad school was take out a library card. I was still waiting for furniture to arrive as I lay on my sleeping bag on the floor of my studio apartment and read the trilogy in two days. I have read it many times since and would have to say these are my all-time favorite books. I am fascinated with the world that Tolkien created. It contains an epic battle between good and evil. It has a determined hero whose quest changes him as much as it changes the world. And it contains a message that is as relevant today as it was when the books were published. 2.    For similar reasons I love the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I had to read it after I saw it instill a love of reading in a recalcitrant pre-teen boy. He was so excited about reading them, he couldn’t wait for the next book to come out and that is something I pay attention to! I found myself enjoying it every bit as much. Engaging characters, a struggle between good and evil. A world that is so engagingly presented I really felt I was living in it. Another series I’ve read multiple times. The books were published after I went to Seminary – an experience I realized was an awful lot like going to Hogwarts! 3.    Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I read this after having watched the movie starring Julia Roberts and, as usual, found the book even more engaging. I was moved by this heroine’s journey as she struggles to find true meaning in her life. I particularly appreciate her use of gentle humor which goes to show that spiritual quests can bring into your life people and experiences that make you smile. 4.    “Memory, Sorrow and Thorn” by Tad Williams. I read “The Green Tower” which is Part III of this trilogy first. I found it so engaging I had to go back and read the first two books. I was drawn into the world of the book by the vivid descriptions of the places, in particular, and found it a satisfying read. The three books are on my shelf, and I will read them again. 5.    A Piece of the World and The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. I find the characters especially engaging in both works. I got interested in historical fiction when I took a course called “American History Through Fiction” my first semester in college and I have loved it ever sense. The skillful blending of real historical events and compelling characters caught and held my interest. 6.    Bullet in the Chamber by Johan DeDakis. There’s nothing like a good murder mystery or spy novel, especially one that takes place in the White House and whose protagonist is a gutsy White House reporter named Lark Chadwick. She’s who I want to be when I grow up! The plot is fast-paced and makes this book a real “page turner”. DeDakis was a Senior Copy Editor for CNN before becoming a novelist and he certainly uses that experience to enhance the storytelling. 7.    Anything by Anne Rice. I’ll admit it, every now and then I enjoy a good vampire story, of which Anne Rice is the master. Again, I get so drawn into the world she creates and am awed by the imagination that has gone into it. Yes, there’s a lot of darkness and violence but those things in her books are part and parcel because they are naturally part and parcel of life. I’ve never felt they were gratuitous. And it takes a lot of skill to make a vampire a compelling character! 8.    Anything by Stephen King. Most recently I read The Gunslinger and other parts of his The Dark Tower series. I continue to be amazed by the imagination that goes into the bizarre worlds he creates. Again, they are often dark, violent worlds but sometimes that’s part of life I need to engage with and how better to do that than by the works of a master storyteller. 9.    Big Trouble by Dave Barry. Humor is important in life, and nobody makes me laugh the way Dave Barry does. This book is a permanent resident of my bookshelf but any of his books or articles are hilarious. Yet his humor says something about the state of our world and that is what I most appreciate. The laughter gets mingled with tears sometimes because while I’m laughing, I realize he’s said something dead-serious about some aspect of our broken world that would be incredibly sad if he hadn’t framed it so outrageously. 10. The Far Side by Gary Larsen. My husband is a Gary Larsen fanatic and that brushed off on me. He says he appreciates the sarcasm and I agree. The zany humor makes me laugh but as I’m laughing, I suddenly realize I’ve been hit with a sharp bite of reality. That makes me think about whatever the cartoon is about and I really value that.