Her Ghost: Heaven On The Beach

She was a bright, shiny star in the 1930s and 1940s. In those days, Ginny Sims sang her way into everyone’s heart via radio, singing with the Kay Kyser Orchestra. In time, she developed her own radio shows, and hit the silver screen, becoming a huge star in “B” movies. Sims made her last movie […]

Just What She Always Never Wanted

When we look back on Christmases past, we like to remember gifts received, especially those cherished items that we have held close to our hearts for a lifetime. But there also were those gifts we remember; the ones which made us shudder, shed a disappointed tear, or for one poor woman, hide in my closet […]

I Wear Xtratufs, Swallows Do Not

St. Joseph’s Day came and went. Not as big a celebration day as St. Patrick’s; but important, nonetheless, to fathers, carpenters, Sicilians, and fava bean farmers. Joseph was the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, making him stepfather to Jesus. He was a carpenter, and tradition says he saved Sicilians from starvation during a […]

A Place Called Home

We can go through life trying different things, being different versions of ourselves, working at various jobs in diverse places, or we can stay one course for the duration, just wrinkling and sagging a bit more year to year. I have been, or at times, wanted to be or do all of the above. What […]

Storm’s a-comin’

Living in a small coastal community in the Pacific Northwest is as close to geographic and climatic perfection as ever I could imagine. Weather here suits me, as I am a lover of rain; someone who finds joy and peace of mind during rainy days, or as those of us who share this distinction are […]