The tea cup warms my hands as I sink back into the leather recliner and snuggle my feet under a fleece blanket. The only light comes from the lava lamp on the mantel and the faint glow of the skyscrapers across the way. There are no sounds at all. Branches make a sumi painting of … read more The quiet hours
Category: Improvisation
The Adventure Girl Cookbook: Improvising a Life. Recipes, ideas and stories about creativity, mindfulness and improvisation as a major ingredient in art, food, work, life
Claims on me
It’s a rather long list. Coffee table, stained glass lamp, two storage bins, Turkish stone vase, Baluch tapestries, stoneware crock and mixing bowls, fireplace, patio table, cantina lights, solar driveway lights, window blind … Twenty items, all told, that were damaged or destroyed in the past six months – when the tree fell, during house … read more Claims on me
New house
[Sunday, Jan. 15] We slept soundly, and woke up this morning in our own bed at last. It squeaked. Loudly. In the dozen years we’ve owned it, the frame hasn’t squeaked before. The movers left off some screws when they reassembled it. I’ve always loved the smell of this house that emanates from the raw wood … read more New house
Hover craft
I’ve always walked fast. I was the youngest and shortest of four girls, and ever since I learned to walk, I had to walk fast to keep up in my family of giants. When Tom began to walk again after the stroke, it was slow. One step at a time. He had to think about … read more Hover craft
Island of lost toys
The stop sign was flattened. Pole twisted down to the road, red octagon turned vaguely upward, half in the road, as though drunk and disoriented. It was one of those jumbo stop signs – the size that they put at major intersections where two fast roads meet. I stopped to grab a photo because it … read more Island of lost toys
The 12 gifts of Christmas
Tom and I don’t usually buy each other presents for Christmas. But today I got at least a dozen gifts. Wahoo! What a haul! The first gift came at 7 a.m. when I woke up and got out of bed. I didn’t die 13 months ago, but even better, my brain is working again. That’s a gift … read more The 12 gifts of Christmas
Living like lava
Luscious pink blobs float the length of the lamp. One elongates, turns into a skull, dies, rises, breaks off into a balloon, drips down, merges with a teardrop, becomes a head on a body, head slides down the body, merges, grows, distends into a tall fish, breaks into balls reaching for each other, thinning, two fingerlets … read more Living like lava
Toe socks
Shut your eyes. Consider your toes for a moment. Can you even do it? Or, like me, do you have trouble visualizing your toes? Or shrink from the very thought because you believe feet are ugly? Take off your shoes and socks, right now. Have a good look at those toes. They’re funny and small … read more Toe socks
A cat named Daisy
I’m home in the mountains, and I took a walk. It was 32 degrees at 5 o’clock. I came up a hill and saw a black animal dashing across the road far ahead. I thought it was a dog. When I got to the corner, I saw that it was a cat. A fat black … read more A cat named Daisy
Playing with 13 Rectangles
In making a fused glass version of Kandinsky’s 13 Rectangles, I intended to explore his philosophy of color while translating the painting from oil to another medium. I certainly learned about his use of values, which I didn’t expect; and a bit about blending, which isn’t possible in glass the way it is with paint. After playing with 13 … read more Playing with 13 Rectangles