Words From the Well

The pools of nostalgia invited me for a swim this week. Each June, my daughter and I journey to the Big D to spend time with my sister. As I walked around the beautiful pond near her home this morning, I sat down on a proverbial floatie on the bank of nostalgia’s waters and drifted.  The park nearby with its slides and bouncy creatures made for riding was the highlight of our trip when my daughter was three. Endless imagination in the world of play. There was the weightlifting summer when we took turns carrying her for two hours straight through The Dallas World Aquarium because the walkways were too…

My body felt like lead, but I crammed my feet into my sneakers and willed myself out the door. I enjoyed a brisk walk around one of my favorite trails… partly because I’ve been trying to cultivate better self-care habits and partly because I woofed down a double scoop of my Baskin Robbins favorites last night. Halfway around the trail I felt droplets falling on my arm. The sunbeams ahead of me radiated like lightsabers. Droplets peppered the sidewalk. Rain? Looking up, I saw a gray cloud right above me responsible for this sprinkling amidst the jubilant rays. I sped up as if I could somehow outrun this tiny doldrum…

Long ago in a land far, far away, my husband and I went on a beach vacation with my husband’s family. One of the excursions we took was an illustrious snorkeling outage. A little backstory for you- I don’t have the greatest track record with water sports in general or any activity not taking place on land. Despite the fact that I grew up camping and swimming in rivers and lakes my entire childhood, somewhere along the course of my cognitive development, I became skittish. I took my Dramamine, actually I think I took two for good measure, bolstered a strong motivational talk to myself, and we boarded for the…

In our area, snow days are like the Chupacabra. They’re figments of the imagination. But every once in a while, the illusive becomes reality. It’s an unexpected pause. Forced quiet. Everything stills for a moment. The snow invites me to remember.  Last weekend, my mom celebrated her seventieth birthday. It was a special time filled with memory making and celebration. I stood at the back door and stared out to the patio. Sounds of laughter filled the bustling kitchen as everyone held their posts at pie baking and dinner prep. The sounds faded into the background of my mind as I flashed back to moments when I stood in that…

Stockholm Syndrome is defined as a condition in which a person begins to develop a psychological bond with their captor.  This phenomena was coined after a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden, in August of 1973. The hostages were held captive for more than 130 hours. What took place during that isolated captivity was something so odd. The hostages forged a bond with their captor. They were reluctant to leave their isolation even though this feeling was against every thread of normality.  There is a strange connection between this phenomena and what is happening in our world right now. Even though we are designed by God to live in community and unity…

When my daughter was little, she loved sorting shapes. She would name the shapes and put them in the space they fit through precisely. She would gather them up and start the process over again happily; everything fitting just as it should. I find myself reflecting, searching, seeking. I was reminded of those joyful moments of play in the early years of my daughter’s childhood. This first day of 2022 unfolds. An uncharted year on the horizon. The crisp page of a fresh, new calendar hangs on the wall. I love order. Everything fitting in its rightful place, nothing askew. It’s comical, really, to try to maintain that kind of…

There’s a home in our town that rivals Clark Griswold’s in “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” We drive by each year to see if there are any new additions of lights, inflatables, or displays. I wouldn’t be surprised if air traffic control uses it as a landmark offering on flight path descents during the month of December. It is the epitome of the Christmas spirit captured in the form of Christmas lights.  One year, as we made our exit from this jubilant holiday vision, I looked over at a house about a block away. It looked like they opened the front door, plugged in a string of lights into the outlet…

There are places in life where we find solace. Places that conjure up feelings of nostalgia within us. A small mountain town nestled in the hills of New Mexico is that place for me. Up a sloping hill sits a cabin on the hilltop, tucked away, nestled in the trees. It’s nothing special. Just the basics. But for me, the memories in that space are worth treasure. Sitting around that fireplace with my dad and sister, making s’mores, and laughing hysterically at life. Years later, my husband going on a drive through those mountains with my dad and asking for my hand in marriage. Yet another year later, getting married…

Our neighbor’s house has been unoccupied since the late 80’s. The owners left the house along with all its hoarded contents, locked the door behind them, and there the house has sat for decades. Recently, someone bought the house and the remodeling process is well underway. This has been no easy task. Trailer load after trailer load hauling garbage and deteriorated what nots to the dump have come and gone each day. Before any real beautification can take place, the well worn pathways of what once was must be removed. All the junk and debris must go. Before the new owner’s began remodeling, my husband walked through the house with…

Snow is one of my favorite things to experience. A snowstorm blitzed through in early January, a weather anomaly for our area. It started as gentle snowflakes drifting gracefully and became large clusters of snow speedily swirling down.  We grabbed our cold weather gear and headed to the empty field across from our house. We spent hours outside that day. Building a snowman, making snow angels, and just sitting in the snow. Sitting in silence reveling in the beauty of this rare occurrence. As I sat there, I thought of Edmund, a character from C.S. Lewis’s novel, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Edmund walked through the snowy forest of…