Welcome!

Or, perhaps: Welcome back to this place where every season holds the spirit of Thanksgiving.

Here, I celebrate year-round with stories and reflections.

My “Thanksgiving in February” mindset is:

• My choice to rejoice daily for all the gifts, particularly the gifts of kindness, the life- and soul-sustaining natural world, for those who love us, all that we love and the events that make us.

• This growing collection of stories from my search for peace. They are all love stories in one way or another. I share them to offer hope. If my family-of-origin can make some peace … well, then there’s hope for a lot of families!

• My core story of making peace with my often-absentee Dad.

And, of course, pie!

Read more about Thanksgiving in February here:

I am returning to posting here after being away these last few months. I’d reached a crossroads in this work, needed to step back and had some other projects demanding attention. It seemed a good time to take a break.

While away, I took some time to rest and recharge, remembering how essential rest is to my mental and emotional health. Two very wise, bright lights and thought leaders I follow, Brene Brown and Krista Tippett, took rests this summer and it seemed wise.

Plus …

During the summer, we also had a major home renovation here that re-worked the second-floor of our 1860s home, where my studio is located. Lots of dust. Lots of noise. Lots of hard work for our beloved contractor and his crew.

I’m full of gratitude and awe for our contractor, and all of his experience and tender, loving care of old houses, and so thrilled with our new, beautiful spaces and layout.

I’m also quite grateful for the return of quiet and solitude during my work days.

Over that break, I also called in a top-notch, pro crew of web developers to dig into the nitty-gritty of this site, thanks to a grant award for creative entrepreneurs.

The web pros have given it this site tender loving care, to look and function at a level far above anything I could reach on my own. (Thank you Ryan and Troy. I’d much rather be writing!)

A dear friend built this site as a gift, ahead of my TEDxPSU talk in 2019, telling the Thanksgiving in February core story. (Thankyou Cristina.) Since then, I re-designed and re-built it, crashing around with software and plug-ins and a whole bunch of other stuff I can neither name nor understand. I always had a hunch it looked OK, but didn’t function well.

You may notice some changes, as we keep tinkering.

Would you drop me a line and let me know about your visit? How it’s all working for you?

Here are all the ways to connect.

Finally …

Here we are already, starting a new season of Thanksgiving and heading into the holiday season and a New Year around the corner. A time to reflect and be hopeful.

These times are so challenging — and quite remarkable. Full of promise. What an incredible time to be alive.

I am deeply inspired, yet troubled by the state of our world, and I don’t think I’m alone — though we all may see things quite differently.

I am craving peace. Real, true and lasting peace. Maybe you are too?

My job, I’ve come to believe, is not to sit here and wait for it to happen.

This isn’t “somebody” else’s work, but our work. Each of us. Right now.

We start (or continue), I think, by finding and nurturing peace in our own lives, and putting it out into the world from there. Do the work you love. Heal your broken parts and wounds. Be with people you love.

Follow your heart’s call and it will lead to peace.

From there — and I really believe this — we can find and hopefully build upon some peace in our families, in our culture, and, I hope, in our American family. Let’s explore this and see where we go.

Thanks for being here. I’ve missed this!

Remember: Please drop me a note on your experience here. I love to connect with readers.

Take good care of you. I wish you peace. See you next week.

And if you like what you’re reading here, please share!

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