Spring in the Pacific Northwest is a glorious thing. Every tree, plant, and flower blooms in a cacophony of glory, life, and brilliance in every color of the rainbow. All of these beautiful trees and bushes sport various shades of green throughout the year so it is a lovely surprise when a red or purple…
Radiation Blues
It’s helpful in life to find the humor in even the most serious of situations. If we can’t laugh at it, there must be a problem. I’m not trying to minimize the suffering happening in the world. I can’t find much to laugh about a war. Or in the plight of the millions walking hundreds…
Do You Hear What I Hear…
I’ve been thinking a lot about communication. Or lack thereof. ‘Tis the season when I often hear from friends and relatives who I may not have heard from the other eleven months of the year. Yet it’s good to hear from them in the twelfth month and catch a glimpse of what’s been happening in…
More Than This
On NPR last week, I listened to an interview with Phil Manzanera, lead guitarist for the rock band Roxy Music. Roxy Music celebrated their rock and roll legacy by embarking on a 50th Anniversary Tour this past fall. Listening to the interview sparked a cascade of memories of my time in the late 70s, living…
Total Eclipse
It’s hard for me to wrap my head around that fact that it is already mid-November, although it is my favorite month for personal reasons. The year seems to be progressing with fleeting speed and I have felt the days flow by like water spilling through my fingers. One of the things I have wondered…
We Don’t Talk About…
My young grandson has discovered the magic of film with his favorite movie Encanto. A wonderful story of family dynamics, beliefs, history and magic, its signature song We Don’t Talk About Bruno –music and lyrics by the brilliant Lin-Manuel Miranda–is a cautionary tale about ignoring a family member whose magic gift is telling prophecies, often…
Gap Year
Last month thousands of students graduated from high school or college or university or trade school. Any number of educational institutions scattered across the country. I always loved the word “commencement” (what the graduation ceremonies are actually called) because even though it is a ceremony celebrating an ending or an accomplishment or completion, it also…
The Last Two Survivors
The other night over a shared bottle of wine, my husband and I gazed out at an evening heavy with humidity, the sky and air the color of silver and gray. It was completely silent. No birds sang, no creatures rustled in the trees. Utter silence. It was so unusual and eerie that my husband…
The In-Between
Lately I’ve been reading a lot of posts and blogs about aging. Some write about lessons learned or life as an older person or how they spend their time now that they’ve reached a certain age. Some argue age is just a number, it’s how you feel that is the true indication. Some mourn lost…
Sunflowers in February
As a writer, I think about what words I want to put out into the world every day. My hope is to write something that will make the reader feel uplifted or inspired or think about what I’ve written. When I first started writing this blog seven years ago, I thought I should steer away…
I Wish I Had A River
I love the Olympic Games. Ever since I was young, my family would gather in front of the TV to watch athletes from all over the world perform their hearts out. Tears, falls, screams of happiness, performances that gave me chills and brought me to tears. Excellence never seen before and sometimes never repeated again….
Three Shots and A Mask
It’s crystal clear by this point that there is no handbook on how to live through a global pandemic. 2022 arrived with a lot of hope but not much change. The virus is still alive and well and wreaking havoc on our health and on society in general. If that sounds defeatist, I must tell…
Wish Upon A Star
December is the time when we celebrate the fact that we’ve made it through another year. The stars align for the Solstice, when the day and night are equal as autumn morphs into winter. Christmas is just around the corner. This December marks another year of a global pandemic, an experience that has drastically changed…
Christmas Mugs All Year Round
Autumn is my favorite time of the year. From the September Equinox to the December Solstice I revel in the bite of crisp apples, the scent of sharp, clean air, and the phases of the moon full of magic and mystery. I became a wife and a mother in the fall season. Both of my…
Once Upon A Time
I love fairy tales. I always have. They are swashbuckling adventures chock full of hopes, dreams, promises, wishes that come true, and battles between good and evil where usually good wins the day. They are populated with mythical creatures who live side by side with humans and often help them navigate the reality of their…
Book Release
My essay, The Power of Four, is now published in the anthology Her Voice: Sisterhood. You can find it here . I’m excited to be included in this eclectic compilation of stories about sisterhood from a variety of voices. The description reads; “Sisterhood isn’t always two women connected by blood. It can be, but it…
Summer Writing
Hello, readers! It’s been a busy summer and I hope you are all safe and well. I’ve written a post about my recent adventures on a new platform, Medium. The post is linked below. Thanks for reading! https://tcelentano.medium.com/e3eb1818009d
50 Shades of Green
Sunday was the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, and the official change from spring into summer. Although humans have been locked down in various stages over the past year, Mother Nature was never under quarantine. Spring in the Pacific Northwest is a riot of color as almost every bush, and, many trees,…
Say What?
One of the most divisive and political issues that has come out of the pandemic has been the wearing of masks. For some reason, the mask mandate was seen by many as an infringement of their freedom which always confused me. In my mind, the freedom to stay healthy by not catching a virulent virus…
Transition
A few weeks ago, the spring equinox moved us from the last days of winter into the first days of spring. “Equinox” in old Latin means equal, the time when the day and night hours are equal so that we are in a delicate balance for about 24 hours. If equinox were a state of…
Tina Celentano - Writer 