I love Thanksgiving. The food, the family recipes, the cakes and pies, and smells and sights of a table laden with holiday treats. Our traditions include quiet music playing in the background, freshly ironed tablecloths set with the best china, silver, and crystal, hand lettered place cards, an artfully designed centerpiece of flowers and gourds and candles.

Recently I drove from the Knoxville area of East Tennessee to the Greenville-Spartanburg area in South Carolina to visit my sister. Ordinarily, this is a three and a half hour drive, but due to Hurricane Helene, most of the roads in western North Carolina remain closed, so I planned to drive north, then southeast to circumvent the storm damage. What I hadn’t planned on was missing my exit and winding up a hundred miles further up the road than I needed to be.

October is a favorite month with cooler days, colorful leaves, and Halloween candy. I may or may not have already purchased a bag (or two!) of candy corn.

The first time it happened, I was taken aback, confused, and offended.

I’ve spent far too many hours over the past several weeks stripping decades of old paint from a sort of cabinet I’ll call a pie safe for lack of a more descriptive term.

I recently returned home from a trip where I took a hot air balloon ride over the plains of South Africa.

My family loves jigsaw puzzles. Partly it’s the shared goal, but mostly, it’s the camaraderie, the quiet togetherness as we meet around the table, rotating among the chairs as we take breaks for more snacks. I recently discovered online jigsaw puzzles, which I find relaxing as a solo pursuit and distracting in a strangely productive way.

April showers bring mayflowers, or so I’ve heard all my life. In The Art of Love at Blackwater Pond, Sarah wonders about the name Mayflower. Like Sarah, most of us probably jump to the Pilgrim ship as Sarah does and never stop to think about its name origin. A little research indicates that the ship was named for and English plant that was called mayflower, but is now known as lily of the valley.

When my mother cleaned house, everyone cleaned house. With four children, my mother cleaned something everyday, of course, but spring cleaning was a ritual both exhausting and exhilarating.

A few weeks ago in the midst of decluttering, I began thinking about time. I wondered how much of my life I have spent trying to getting rid of possessions I no longer need.

It’s February, which means Valentine’s Day with all its hearts and cupids and pressure to find our happily ever after. If we believe the average romance novel, we need to find The One while we’re in our early twenties!

I spent my childhood in Georgia. It’s fair to say I have a southern accent. To the point where my East Tennessee relatives would laugh at my pronunciation of certain words.

Traditions are important in creating a sense of family, no matter the makeup of the group. Whether passed down from previous generations or newly begun, traditions provide us with a sense of belonging and security.

I don’t remember the circumstances under which I first met Mary Oliver on the page, but I remember the poem: “The Journey”. The truth she spoke resonated with me, buried itself in my heart and became a part of me.