From the cloudy Pacific Northwest, my husband Ken and I relocated to sunny Southern Arizona over two decades ago. The Catalina Mountains and the Tortolita Mountains are visible from patios and windows in our home. We live adjacent to a former golf course that was returned to the wild and is now a nature preserve.

We have two cats who entertain us daily. We are also parents of three adult children, all doing well in the world, and one amazing grandson who is bragged about incessantly.

We live in a wild kingdom of coyote, bobcat, javelina, rabbit, quail, snake, tarantula, ground squirrel, scorpion, pack rat, deer, road runner, a variety of other birds, and the occasional mountain lion and bear. All except the mountain lion and bear have shown up in our yard on occasion – some are regular visitors. They allow us to share the beauty of this place, their home. After close to thirty years here we have learned to respect them and appreciate living side by side with them as neighbors. When we walk through the neighborhoods and trails we have animal encounters daily. They take note of our presence and continue their day. We do the same. Animal stories will be posted from time to time.

I love writing and do so daily. Every day begins with gratitude and ends with a story. I belong to the Oro Valley Writers’ Forum. We meet several times a month to share stories, get tips to update skills, gather information on editing and publishing, and to generally enjoy the company of other wordsmiths. I never leave a meeting without learning something new. I also belong to a smaller critique group that meets twice a month to help each other polish our stories and encourage creativity.

In addition to writing, I started playing mahjong with a group of women who challenge me at every meeting. It is a fun and frustrating game that I’ve learned to love.

I am a co-author of a book, Telling Tales and Sharing Secrets, that was published in 2022. At that time, we three authors, Sally, Jackie, and I started a website/blog to promote our book. The book is doing fine, and I am returning to this website to publish my blog posts. Old posts are available in my archive according to their published date.

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