Behind the Puddle
The stories behind the stories, reflections on the patio, the puddle, accessibility, home, writing, and the unexpected ways a small place can change how we experience our lives and the world around us.
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The Familiar Creature
Over the last several months, the visitors at the puddle have become such a familiar part of my days that I have stopped thinking of most of them as visitors at all. I look for Stella and Stanley along the shoreline. I notice when Pumpkin makes his run between the shed, the maple tree, and… Continue reading
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Behind the Puddle | The Season of “What If?”
Two inches of rain fell before it finally decided it was finished. The gauge is holding the evidence, the grass looks greener than it did yesterday, and I have finally made my way back out to the patio for some fresh air. It has been a busy phone day. This time of year, the End… Continue reading
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Behind the Puddle | September Evenings
I love September evenings like this. The air finally has enough chill in it to make a small fire feel inviting, but not so much that you are ready to retreat indoors. There is something about sitting outside under a blanket, watching the little flames flicker against the growing dark, that makes the whole day… Continue reading
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The Cardinal Family Came to Visit
The Puddle has been a little quieter lately, so I have been paying closer attention to the smaller visitors who have been making themselves at home around the feeders, trees, and tall grass. Today, what first looked like a mix of birds turned out to be something even sweeter. We appear to have had a… Continue reading
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Some Visitors Need Their Space
We have welcomed quite a few visitors to the Puddle this year. Some I watch for every morning. Some I photograph far too many times. Some have been given names despite having absolutely no idea that they are now part of an ongoing neighborhood story. And then there are visitors like this one. I believe… Continue reading
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Human Needs | To Be Calm
Before we can ask what a life means, there are needs that allow us simply to inhabit it. To be calm is not the same as having nothing to worry about. Human life rarely offers that kind of certainty. Calm is the experience of having enough internal quiet that we are not being pulled in… Continue reading
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Behind the Puddle | Apparently, the Puddle Was Listening
Yesterday I was looking across the puddle and commenting on just how low the water had become. The taller vegetation was beginning to stretch farther into the open water, and I found myself hoping we would get enough rain to give the puddle a little help. Apparently, the puddle was listening. By this morning, the… Continue reading
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Human Needs | To Be Safe
Before we can ask what a life means, there are needs that allow us simply to inhabit it. To be safe is one of the most basic human needs, but safety is larger than the absence of immediate danger. We need environments, relationships, and circumstances that allow the body and mind to loosen their constant… Continue reading
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Outsidesy not Outdoorsy
Sunday’s adventure trying to scale the slight elevation along the side of Saylorville Lake definitely reaffirmed something I have suspected for a long time. I am an outsidesy person, but I am definitely not an outdoorsy person. I love being outside. I love sitting beside the puddle, walking through the neighborhood, putting my feet in… Continue reading
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A Little Farther Up the Puddle
Stella or Stanley stopped by today, although not in the usual place where I have gotten used to watching them. With the water continuing to shrink, our visitor was farther up the puddle, standing among the green surface and tall vegetation where there is apparently still enough of whatever a heron needs. It was good… Continue reading
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