Prisoner of Hopes

Category: Uncategorized

  • Christmas Whispers

    What is it about Christmas preparations that create such divided feelings? For some, it is (to borrow a cliche) the most wonderful time of the year. For others it is a chore that produces anxiety and depression. Perhaps Christmas magic as an ideal is hard to achieve, but Christmas magic as a simple daily experience…

  • Friendship

    If you’re ever in a jam, here I amIf you’re ever in a mess, S.O.S.If you ever feel so happy you land in jail, I’m your bailIt’s friendship, friendshipJust a perfect blendshipWhen other friendships have been forgotOurs will still be hot. (Noel Coward) Noel Coward wrote some catchy tunes. You can’t help humming along. This…

  • Passing The Time

    Today I am thinking about time. How quickly the years go and how slow the hours. I am sitting in a tiny coffee shop in a small Indiana Town. A fun find in the middle of nowhere. . . or somewhere, depending on your view. It is quirky and artsy, and best of all, it…

  • In Praise of Trees

    I love trees.  They speak to me in ways that I can’t adequately describe. The sturdiness of their limbs, the roots reaching deep into the ground, the delicate leaves; all contribute to their timeless beauty.  Of course, trees are also practical. Trees keep the air clean by filtering carbon dioxide and giving off oxygen. One…

  • May the Road Rise Up to Meet You: Travel Goals

    “Hands on the wheel. Eyes on the road. Don’t overdrive your abilities.” I’ve had plenty of driving under my belt, and yet I still remember my parents advice from when I was learning to drive. (This is because Dad still gives advice from the passenger seat when I drive him anywhere, even though I have…

  • Fly the Friendly Skies?: Travel Goals

    Travel is a passion. The anticipation makes me giddy. New places and new faces call to me.  There is very little about travel that I do not enjoy….except airlines. Airlines make me miserable. If there is a way to make humans more inconvenienced, more anxious, and more impoverished; they have incorporated it.  I don’t fault…

  • Transported

    Last evening, I happened upon a program I had never before encountered. The set was cheesy, a tiny theater set up to look like the interior of a barn. The host looked as if he had just been picked up out of rural 1970 on his way to work at a bank. As a matter…

  • Flower Power

    Flowers inspire emotion. This past week, we invited our neighbors for dinner on the patio. He came in carrying a pie and she came carrying a beautiful arrangement of dahlias that she had grown in the back yard. I love pie, but my heart went immediately to the flowers. They are stunning and they sing…

  • Wild Horses: Travel Goals

    I’ve heard the saying, “Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.” A few weeks ago, I heard an old song that proclaimed that the secret to life was, “faster horses, younger women, and more money.” This week I had several encounters with the wild horses of the Ozark Scenic Riverways. As we were arriving at Echo…

  • Most People

    Ever feel like you don’t quite fit in? That the rest of the world has a mold for human expectation and you don’t quite make the dimensional requirements? I think we all feel that way from time to time. When I hear the phrase, “Most people…” I cringe. It is offered up as an indictment…