Tender Places

I brought the dusty box down from the top shelf of my closet.  I packed it years ago when my sister and I closed up our parents’ home for the last time.  We saved, sold, donated, and discarded.  My mother’s assorted…

I got my ticket for the long way ’roundThe one with the prettiest of viewsIt’s got mountains, it’s got riversIt’s got sights give you shiversBut it sure would be prettier with you –Song by Anna Kendrick– Cups Over to my east…

The plainly dressed woman was weary of the day-to-day grind of cook, serve, clean; cook serve, clean.  Over in the corner of her one-room cottage, the iron pot bubbling over a wood fire needed constant attention.  Inside the pot was the…

After years of planning and saving, I was on a cruise, visiting ports along the Iberian Peninsula in a whirlwind of activity.  That September afternoon I was taking a break from my intense schedule while the ship was docked in Valencia,…