I walked Marley down the leaf-strewn sidewalks of our neighborhood on this fall morning listening to the music of Bach. I have been in a reflective mood lately, so many thoughts churning around inside my head, and Bach’s music never fails to calm my spinning brain and help me to focus. I feel like I’m … More When Clouds Part
Wednesday was a rough day. Even though I rose at 5am to do kickboxing and walk Marley before I began my early teaching day, I felt weepy and overwhelmed. I know I am not alone. I have always loved teaching and performing, loved my career; but the current reality Covid has given us bears little … More To the Brim
We had our faculty retreat on Zoom this past Thursday, with my Chair jokingly welcoming us back from ‘spring break,’ an homage to the fact that the last time we were together we were heading into our spring break days before the world came to a screeching halt for the next five months. We began … More The Last Day
Every single day for the past almost five months I wake with the sun, feed the animals, walk the dog, exercise, then school work, emails, emails, emails, house chores, yard work, lunch. Then, more school work, house chores, dinner, a bit of the evening news with Dan, and early to bed. I hold onto routine … More Routine and Laughter in a Pandemic
In all honesty, it’s been tough to write for weeks. I feel covered in a heavy wet blanket of malaise that I can’t seem to shake, fueled by the awfulness in our country with all of the hate and division, all on top of a global pandemic. I am an emotional sponge and feel overwhelmed … More On Finding the Good
Yet again, I’ve come up to the top deck with Marley to try to make some sense of life. Initially I was just checking on our tomato plants while Dan left to teach his socially distanced yoga class at the Downtown YMCA, but the dramatic sky drew me to stay for a while; a little … More On Exorcising and Exercising Demons
We found it ironic that just as the sadness and troubles of the world followed us to our little vacation at Seagrove Beach, the bands of Tropical Storm Cristobal followed us back to Birmingham yesterday and stayed with us. Truly the current chaos of life being reflected through nature. There is no escaping the reality … More On Searching for the Calm in the Storm
Typically, when we are at the beach it is a huge time of creative bursts for me. I get up before dawn and listen to the waves crashing and write poetry and blog posts, feeling overwhelmingly inspired, feeling the undeniable drive to write and share my thoughts. I had hoped this trip to the Emerald … More Shifting Sands
Like many of us, my anxiety is through the roof right now. So much is up in the air, so much scary news hits us with a daily tidal wave of fear. I am doing my best to hang on, doing a long walk/run with Marley most every day, often heading up to Birmingham’s beautiful … More The COVID Chronicles: High Anxiety
Yesterday was a milestone in what has been such a strange period; the last day of classes for UAB’s ill fated spring semester. I’m not quite sure how to process it. On one hand I feel celebratory relief to be done with the frustrations of having been thrust unprepared into online teaching, coupled with deep … More The COVID Chronicles: Endings and Beginnings
The View from Here 