My family: Alan far left-back–I’m three to the right of him. A dear friend currently faces failed kidneys –something that happened to my brother, Alan, about ten years ago. In honor of my friend and her quest to find new kidneys, I’d like to take some time to chronicle my own path as an organ donor . My …[ read more ]

Eigen foto Licentie Categorie:Afbeelding voedsel Categorie:Afbeelding cacao (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) One day, my friend Sharon told me, “Carol, you are so cute. Do you know how often you use the word ‘basically’?” This horrified me. My sweet, and generally sarcastic, friend told me of a vocal tic I’d developed. She also confessed she didn’t want …[ read more ]

I know the Easter lily is not native to Israel, and is a difficult cultivar for our region, but with Easter less than a week away, I want to devote this post to one of my favorite flowers. The Easter lily is the third most popular seasonal plant. It follows the poinsettia and chrysanthemum. Never does …[ read more ]

You’ve heard it said,  use action beats when creating dialogue–avoid the ubiquitous said. Great advice when done properly, but when overused, the reader gets a stiff neck as though watching an over active tennis match. A popular series, I won’t mention any names, became a hit despite overusing interrupting beats. The author’s dialogue ran something …[ read more ]

Corrugated (Photo credit: Andrea Kirkby ) “Be generous: Invest in acts of charity. Charity yields high returns.  Don’t hoard your goods; spread them around. Be a blessing to others. This could be your last night” Eccl 11:1-2(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.) Like corrugated warts, storage …[ read more ]