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Honoring the journey—then and now

  • Will just being just happen?

    “Do your best. Keep trying until you can do no more. Did you do your best? Then that’s all you can do.” ~Sigh~ The words do more than echo. They are the threads that stitch together my daily life. But I’m getting better at asking for help. Covid did that: Made me stress more, doubt…

  • The way will open

    Ants have been harassing me. For a week or so before our big trip west, a couple of times when I sat on the couch in the evenings, I felt a little tickle on my arm or leg. When I glanced down, I saw a big, fat black carpenter ant moseying along my bare skin.…

  • Oh, California!

    Politics, health care, or sanctuary. Wide open deserts where no one will impede on personal choices, potential opportunities that hint at millions, or family reunions– even weddings! People have flocked to sunny California for countless reasons. One of the most compelling reasons to return to California is its gorgeous landscapes. So varied and so magnificent!…

  • By plane or by car?

    Have you seen X lately? Some people complain about riding in a car on vacation. They groan when they hear about the time it will take to get to where the vacation begins. They’d much rather hop a flight and be at their destination in what seems a trice. I suspect they may be suffering…

  • A simpler summer

    Clad in well-worn cotton shorts and shirts, we started the day alternating between scorching sun and suffocating shade, maneuvering our bikes between old paint cans and lawn chairs like the drivers at the Marsh truck rodeo, or resting on a blanket under the huge black willow playing Barbie and Janney dolls, with old Jane West…

  • I confessed today

    It was the trip to the retirement home that triggered it. Mom had been feeling a little punk lately, so I got her an 18-pack of variety Gatorade. Rather than carry the awkward box and a shopping bag upstairs and across the wing to her apartment, I decided to use one of the cute mini…

  • Writing camp deadline!

    Hats pulled snug down over their curly, straight, blonde, dark, red hair, the writers scratched and scribbled in their notebooks, filling them with graphite and ink, painstakingly selected–or not– most legible, some barely- mapping out worlds on, above, and below where their feet tread. Soon, plots emerged from five squares, mountains, and lines of time…

  • Was it ever so simple?

    It’s Graduation Season: I see my former students and colleagues as I make the rounds to a few select open houses- of those daring, outstanding students who braved sending an invitation when they know it’s not my thing. “Are you glad you’re not teaching anymore?” “Oh, yeah. Things are so different. Even in just a…

  • Am I overthinking again?

    After one month of dedicated effort, I am no longer a member of my local fitness facility. My pickleball fanatic friend took me as a guest to a new place in town a few weeks ago to enjoy the walking track. We chatted and walked, forgetting the number of laps we made around the balcony…

  • “I yam what I yam”

    But Do You Have to Be? Remember Popeye? The 1920s sailor cartoon character that Robin Williams brought to life from the comic strips and cartoons for a new audience? With a can of spinach in hand, he often delivered his trademark phrase, “I Yam What I Yam.” In the feature film, Popeye sang about his…

Barbara Swander Miller

Honoring the journey in everyday life

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