The entire place reeked of burnt plastic from a burned boom box. Every square inch of the walls, floors, ceilings, and furniture, everything, had to be washed and our clothes sent out to the cleaners.

She loved that little ball of fur. I paid the bill. There was a man in the clinic watching what had transpired.  Remarkably, he gave his name and phone number to the clinician, saying he’d pay the kitten’s future medical expenses.  

Here is a story about a decision I made, a commitment, that caused a death. I hadn’t planned on it, but it happened.

I'm reminded of my dependence on the sun and rain and plant wisdom. When the bigger world is grim with human violence, the garden provides a peaceful salve against despair. To pull weeds, quench the thirst of new sprouts, and transplant a daisy longing for more sunlight, this is happiness.

But then the phone rang at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. Her neighbor Rusti said the noise was related to the car that had just flipped outside her front door and was now resting on its roof.

Here are two adult classes coming up at The Dalles Art Center in May. Nancy Turner will focus on storytelling for adults as well as mindfulness meditation. Want to know more? Click here.

In that snow cave, I felt grateful for the life I'd lived so far and, for all I cared, the stuff I owned might never have existed. Not once did I think about my bicycle or dining room chairs. The only precious thing I thought about was my family.

I found myself perplexed lately by the contentious issue in The Dalles of where to open a shelter for the houseless… I experience this sort of dilemma often. When I am able to empathize with both sides of an issue, I  realize how complex some decisions really are. At times there's no right answer.

Pippin was about fifty feet ahead of me, his nose to the ground. I finally glanced upward to see what all the noise was about. Five eagles silently circled in perfect formation above Pippin. The tips of their wide wings almost touched as they flew in a tight circle above my little white dog. He weighs thirteen pounds, about the size of a  large rabbit or baby lamb, and probably looked like lunch. 

The Dalles is a town of about 16,000. It's impossible for me to know even 10% of the people living around me. How can I create a personal tribe within a population too big for my mind to track? 

Five years ago as I packed my belongings to move from a large house into a small apartment, I counted over one hundred nativity sets. Good grief. My movers were undocumented refugees from El Salvador and belonged to a local Christian church. When I asked how many families were in their congregation the men shrugged their shoulders but their wives knew. I quickly was able to unload thirty sets. They were delighted, and I was happy too.