Memory loss and brain fog aren’t just annoying; they are dangerous. — I'm far too young to be this old. I started the aging process a bit younger than most. Not only did I have a full hysterectomy in my 30s, jump-starting menopause, but I have done a lot of damage to my body. I started smoking cigarettes when I was ten…

With a pen in her mouth and ink in her hair? — What is she doing over there? Eyes glassy. Blank stare? Is that ink in her hair? Words pressing in her brain. Images went in, they want out again. They are trapped in a prison of fear and shame. The words want out. Now! They are beginning to cause pain. The…

Thrifty Words 100 #86 & Fifty Word Theme Challenge #107: Gratitude — Here in the U.S., whether you think of it as Thanksgiving or Thankstaking, it is the season for giving thanks. I had a t-shirt once depicting a table laden with all the seasonal foods. Indigenous people on one side and Pilgrim-type people on the other. …

Free, from nature — After our first, very brief, visit to this house in August, I began to get excited about the gardening opportunities such a wet region presented to me. I began planning flower and vegetable gardens. Some in containers and some right in the ground. The night we arrived was a dark…

A pictorial — Hello from upstate New York. The weather is becoming brisk. The trees are starting to change. It is apple picking season. It is pretty common around here for farmers to open their farms to the public for apple picking. I haven’t yet gone, but Mom and I are planning it…

Cross country adventures in moving — It was a dark and stormy night when we arrived at our new home. We had been driving for over 10 hours in a falling apart rental moving truck with bad brakes. The truck was loud and difficult to handle. We couldn’t drive very fast. Visibility had been close to…

Thrifty words 100 #79 & 50 Words Theme Challenge #100: Anniversary — I am thrilled to see a few new faces here. M. E. de los Establos & Keeva Black, howdy! Maybe you’ve been writing thrifty words for a while, but you are new to me. Welcome! Thanks for playing. Packing has been an all-consuming activity for the last several months. Time…

Thrifty Words 100 #79: Anniversary & 50 Words Theme Challenge #100: Anniversary — Happy 100th Thrifty Words theme Challenge! I’m not quite sure how to feel about it. When Reuben Salsa asked TBI’s editors for volunteers to fill the void the closing of the Friday Fix publication left behind, I raised my hand. I had no idea what it would turn into. Our…