When I was young, one of my all-time favorite things was to go to the library. When we couldn't make it ALL THE WAY to the library, we went to the book mobile, a portable library on wheels that would come to our side of town on the regular. I loved the smell of libraries. […]

A dear, new friend gave me a book at the start of the holiday season. She knows my love language! And in the book, before I even read a word of the content, I read: "It is easier to try to be better than you are than to be who you are." (Marion Woodman) Read […]

Happy New Year!! Enjoy this post from several years ago! "A tree gives glory to God by being a tree."Thomas Merton Merton continues, "The more a tree is like itself, the more it is like Him. If it tried to be like something else which it was never intended to be, it would be less […]

I have moved on to Krista Tippett's second "Foundations" podcast episode, which is a mere 8 minutes long this time. These four short podcasts are Tippett's re-launching of her On Being podcast and they are stunningly rich and beautifully simple. Each one leaves me with more to think about than my aging brain can take […]

Hi. I'm Alice and I have a proclivity toward melancholy. And as the days grow short and the cold settles in, I almost revel in this proclivity. I spend more time in my flannel pj's, candles lit, soft music playing, cozy socks on my feet and deep books about waiting and suffering and well, melancholy, […]

When my daughter was young, she had a ruthless Eastern European piano teacher. Ruthless. My girl was learning to overcome some shyness and self-consciousness, and we had hoped learning to play the piano would instill confidence. Not with this instructor, though. Our daughter practiced and practiced, playing the same song over and over again until […]