The popular substitution of farm-churned butter with factory-made margarine (or “oleo,” as my mother used to call it) happened before I was born. Parkay, Chiffon, and Blue Bonnet trended in my parents’ generation and followed me to Chile… Where I discovered that even moderately respectable culinary establishments served no substitutes for real golden butter alongside…
What’s the question? In this hard life, whatever it is, my only answer is His name. Maybe that sounds naïve, or banal, or even just plain phony. “God is all you need”? Not true, since He Himself didn’t design human beings to exist as solitary creatures. And while it’s certainly correct that our God knows…
I just returned from a walk on our local beach here in Totoralillo, rumored to be the best in the region. No, I didn’t have a piña colada, but the fruit sundae booths, churro carts, and ceviche shops are already doing booming business. I didn’t wear flip-flops either, because as you may remember, it’s still…
Perhaps it may look suspicious for a blogger, the ultimate purveyor of virtual life and literature, to write about our worldwide digital dilemma. But that’s exactly what I’m going to do today. There was a time in early 2021, a year into the Covid pandemic here, when I wondered, “Am I the only person left…
Always, always, it’s the thought that counts, right? So each gift we receive, chosen with love and appreciation, offered with generosity, is special. But some are more so, and today I’m going to share the best gifts I’ve been given over a lifetime. It’s hard to choose, though. For a recent ladies’ tea hosted at…
It’s Thanksgiving week in the United States, when it’s almost as important to head home “if only in my dreams” as it is at Christmas. This wonderful holiday, perhaps contrary to secular depiction, gives us an annual opportunity to reset the focus of our lives, recalibrate our values, and recommit to expressing a gratitude attitude…
When we were building our current home in the country, a small bird flew in the open front door. My husband tried to wave it out through the open back door, but instead the creature beelined for a newly installed window. Which was not open. You can guess how this story ends. Except it’s not…
My adopted country held a plebiscite yesterday to approve/disapprove a new constitution, which just may be one of the most radically avant-garde in the world today. At the moment I’m writing this, I have no idea how the vote may turn out. Does it even matter? Whatever happens, I can tell you this: It breaks…
What strange clichés we so often feed each other: Believe, have faith, everything will work out fine. Live, love, laugh. And how we like to hear: Follow your heart. Follow your dreams, your arrow, your passion. Pursue your own path to happiness. Follow the yellow brick road. And by all means, follow the money, honey….
Ruth Caye Jones, a busy pastor’s wife and mother of five, wrote these words in 1943: “In times like these, you need a Savior, in times like these, you need an anchor; be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!” She had just read the World War II casualty…
My husband and I were hiking along a colorful waterfront street in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, spotting the differences and similarities to Punta Arenas, Chile. That last small city in South America, overlooking the Strait of Magellan, is one of our remaining bucket list trips, but we imagined it couldn’t be more unlike this tropical town…
As we wander through the pages of a book or wend our way through the books of our lives, we often find a bend at the end. You know what I mean? In books, it’s the twist before the tie-up, an incident that might just take the story off in an entirely different direction. In…