“It happens this way” are the opening words from a poem of mine called “A Few Words on Inspiration.” They signal that this blog will share what inspires me to stand up – like poet Galway Kinnell – and say “with as little concealment as possible, what it is for [me] to be on earth at this moment.”
Welcome to the journey!
The East Coast Diaries, Part VI
It happens this way … We continued July 3 with a visit to the magnificent National Constitution Center. Outside, re-enacters roamed the mall with their tents, costumes, and stories told ...
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The East Coast Diaries, Part V
It happens this way … July 3rd started a block away from our hotel with a celebration with the Philadelphia Fire Department. Since Benjamin Franklin founded the first department, his ...
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The East Coast Diaries, Part IV
It happens this way … Tuesday, July 2: My dear sister/friend, Bernadette Pape who works for the Jesuits in Merion, Pennsylvania, came into town for a stroll and breakfast at ...
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The East Coast Diaries, Part III
It happens this way … If you thought we were finished on Monday, July 1, you would be so wrong! We discovered that the new Museum of the American Revolution ...
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The East Coast Diaries, Part II
It happens this way … Monday, July 1: First full day of Philadelphia sightseeing. We started with the Liberty Bell and met a delightful couple from Limerick, Ireland: Patricia and ...
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The East Coast Diaries, Part I
It happens this way … The second trip of 2019 took us to New Jersey and Philadelphia. We spent June 28-June 30 at the Mt. St. Mary House of Prayer, a ...
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A Sunday Thought
It happens this way … It’s taken me decades to understand that when my poems are rejected by a publication, I shouldn’t take it personally. I’ve learned to breathe deeply, ...
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The Maui Diaries, Part 7
It happens this way … Hula and ukulele: can you get more Hawaiian than that? Over the years, Kathy has enjoyed taking hula lessons from one of the premier kumu ...
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The Maui Diaries, Part 6
It happens this way … May 21, 2019 Ranked one of the ten best aquariums in the country, the Maui Ocean Center in Ma’alaea is a well-planned, well-laid-out ocean-lover’s delight ...
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The Maui Diaries, Part 5
It happens this way … May 20, 2019 On Maui, openness and flexibility are required to keep the Aloha spirit alive. Almost every time we planned a day of site-seeing ...
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The Maui Diaries, Part 4
It happens this way … May 19, 2019 To the south of Kihei is an exclusive area known as Wailea. Country clubs with their expansive golf courses, multi-million dollar houses ...
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The Maui Diaries, Part 3
It happens this way … May 18, 2019 Two of the free sites we love to visit are the Maui Tropical Plantation in Waikapu and the Heritage Center in the ...
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The Maui Diaries, Part 2
It happens this way … May 17 – 30, 2019 The ocean and sunsets: two of Maui’s delights. Unlike New Jersey where you have to pay to go on a ...
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The Maui Diaries, Part 1
It happens this way … May 16, 2019 All I wanted for my 74th birthday was a sunset walk on a Kihei beach. So when Kathy, her mother Patsy, and ...
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Thoughts for a Saturday
It happens this way … It’s been almost a year since I launched this blog and announced my intention of posting one – maybe two or three – articles a ...
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Celebrating a new neighbor
It happens this way … Last Sunday our new neighbors, a lovely Ethiopian couple, invited us to a party celebrating their daughter’s first birthday. We have known the father for ...
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10,000 words about early spring
It happens this way … If a picture is worth a thousand words, here are 10,000 words from our April yard. Here’s to an abundant spring time wherever you are! ...
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By your students you’ll be taught, Part II
It happens this way … Last Wednesday we completed our third poetry class at Happy Valley Library. These classes were an experiment to see if any one in the local ...
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Green Book: a must-see
It happens this way … Rarely does a movie touch, move, and delight me the way Green Book did last night. We picked up the library’s Blu-Ray copy and watched ...
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By your students you’ll be taught
It happens this way … Last Wednesday night, I taught the first of three poetry workshops at the beautiful Happy Valley Library. I had expected ten adults to show up, ...
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Springing with gratitude
It happens this way … Wednesday night’s reading at the Ledding Library Pond House was a poet’s dream. Tom Hogan and Emmett Wheatfall are warm, welcoming hosts who work hard ...
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Slowing down for poetry
It happens this way … When Christi Suzanne, a writing colleague from my days with VoiceCatcher, invited me to do an author’s interview for her blog, the timing couldn’t have been ...
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Spring is sneaking in …
It happens this way … Arrival This week Spring smuggled passels of squills and crocuses into our yard. Which means it’s clear-out time for weeds and moss and all those ...
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A new book is born!
It happens this way … A PENCHANT FOR MASQUERADES by Carolyn Martin — Poetry Released by Local Writer Unsolicited Press Portland, OR — February 12, 2019 — Unsolicited Press announced immediate availability of A Penchant for Masquerades ...
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The fourth agreement: You’ve got to be kidding!
It happens this way … For any recovering perfectionist, reading “always” and “best” in the same sentence is a temptation to relapse. To my great relief, Don Miguel Ruiz softens ...
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The third agreement: “You should have known …”
It happens this way … At the beginning of his discussion of the third agreement, Don Miguel Ruiz lays it out: We have a tendency to make assumptions about everything ...
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The second agreement … yeah, right!
It happens this way … But I’m a person, I want to scream! How else can I take what others throw at me with their words, actions, or energy but ...
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Ancient wisdom anyone?
It happens this way … Two weeks ago, a Facebook friend posted a reference to the 1997 spiritual classic, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel ...
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