There is something about a fire in the middle of winter. The heat of it, the flickering movement and the crackling and whooshing sound of it all offer cozy solace from the cold outside. December has snuck up as it always does, filling us with the joys and stressors of "The Holidays." We are suddenly lit up with this season and whatever it brings. Reality often differs from the Hallmark picture of things, but in any case it is ours to make of it what we want it to be. This year, I am bound and...

Emerging from the summer always feels like a bit of a rebirth. The crisp fresh air is a reminder that we are coming out of the heat (in...

As I watch the window washers wash, song lyrics float through my mind. Johnny Nash, “I can see clearly now…” And the Indigo Girls’ “And I...