Musings

Memory is a perplexing phenomenon. Some things stick, and others don’t. That stickiness is often attributed to the importance we ascribe to the event, but I think there are other factors at play… I was taken aback recently by a simple question that conjured a memory of an insignificant event with a vividness that surprised me. I was listening to a podcast episode of “Good … [Read more...] about Tiki Redux

God has His way of leading us. He takes us on journeys we don’t even know we are equipped for and sometimes he doubles us back into the path of someone just to bless us. When I was a small child, I lived in the woods in a rural part of Loudoun County. There were only three houses on the one-mile private road where we lived, and I remember it was a long walk to the bus stop … [Read more...] about Lost and Found

Squirrels rarely get my full attention yet they are consistently in my life regardless of where I go. As the new year begins to unfold, a recent run-in made me think back on other encounters with these bristly geniuses and ponder some wisdom they offer in its simplest form.  As a youth, I would spend hours in the woods deer hunting and would pass the time by watching the … [Read more...] about Squirrel Tales and The New Year

Scientists believe that taste and memory are inextricably bound. Studies have led them to the conclusion that our brains can recognize a specific flavor and make an immediate deep brain connection to a buried memory. Maybe I need more variety in my diet… I have a terrible memory. I can structure ideas and retain information but ask me who I was with on such-and-such a day … [Read more...] about The Flavor of a Memory

A chance encounter at a convenience store off of I-95 offered an unconventional opportunity for a poignant and timely lesson. The incident occurred during a trip to Richmond where we would be dropping our son off at college. Dorm move-in is a well-orchestrated affair, but the scheduling meant we would be heading out of Berryville at 7:00 am. With our truck packed and fair … [Read more...] about Panhandling 101