Jane Pettibone

Opening the door of January, . . . what will it bring? Second chances, a new start, beginning again?  Such thoughts may bubble up like the effervescence of New Year’s champagne and will hopefully continue with vitality and a freshness as we step into the new year with hope, purpose, and resolve. I look out on a snowy meadow, the white flakes glistening on the bare hanger of branch. On that stark white outline before a blue sky, buds have … Read more

Ever listen to a story or poem and become wrapped (rapt) in a heightened sense of imagination and wonder? Think snow in Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales about the author’s recollection as a small boy at Christmastime. Thomas’ radio recording of this piece in 1952 at Steinway Hall in New York soared with popularity for his playful and frolicking prose and wonderful speaking voice. Both his audio recording and his written words are celebrated by thousands … Read more

In Pursuit of Bread and Angels ♥ At the bakery the other day, I bought two loaves of bread for a couple of teachers who had shared their wisdom and time in a class I was taking. The symbolism of breaking bread with others, especially in this month of Thanksgiving, tugged at my heartstrings. Thoughts of just baked bread steaming hot from the oven and then shared across the table with family and loved ones … Read more

What’s happened America? Sighs, disbelief, despair? Where has the honor and privilege of vying to lead our country gone? We’ve seen the most contentious presidential campaign right smack in the center of our day-to-days. So in place of the brutal attacks, ranting, and brow beating, here’s a thought or pause to gentle the way or maybe to salve the weary. Wonder is the beginning of Wisdom.     —Socrates Real Suffering bravely borne, melts even a heart of … Read more

One of the beautiful things about the concept of story is the transfer of an idea or image from one person to another through words. Susannah, the Shepherd Woman, in Kathy Coffey’s book “Hidden Women of the Gospels” compares words to jewels: Until then, I had never known that words could be precious stones, treasured like jewels, unwrapped, turned over and over, admired. (Kathy Coffey, Hidden Women of the Gospels [New York: Orbis Books, 2003], … Read more

Ever want perfect symmetry in your world? All the right angles to be perfectly square? All the pictures on the wall to hang with a perfectly aligned bubble in the level?  Balanced—Proportional—Perfect? Hmmm . . . .   Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines symmetry as: the property of being symmetrical; especially correspondence in size, shape, and relative position of parts on opposite sides of a dividing line or meridian plane or about a center or axis It’s … Read more

Have you ever opened a door or come to a passageway and felt you were at the threshold of something exciting, mysterious, promising, or foreboding? Doors and passageways from ancient times to modern day are conduits in our lives. They can swing open or simply beckon us to a particular space. Conversely, they can remain closed, locked, or barricaded. Towering or miniscule, embellished or barren, arched or perpendicular, transparent or solid, organic or inorganic, of … Read more

The crabapple tree in my backyard looks different lately. The spring buds froze after a period of unusual warmth and then the temperature plummeted and iced the tree in a frosty encasement. The usual spring bouquet of white blossoms that flower the tree like confetti was sparse at best. Now in summer, only a handful of green leaves emerge from the branches. I picked up the newspaper and pondered the latest events in the news nationally and worldwide, and the … Read more

  I looked at the clock on the wall of my daughter and son-in-law’s home. The frame was worn and burnished down to the natural wood in many places encircling Arabic numerals and diamond-shaped tic marks at 5-minute intervals on the clock face. I clicked a photo at 2:20 p.m. in the afternoon and noticed the markings of the Grand Hotel in Paris, 1968. The clock had a certain mystique to it and I wondered … Read more

Oh, the relief of open spaces! A few weeks ago I looked out on a vista overlooking the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and felt something utterly amazing. The cluttering distractions of daily life seemed to melt away as I looked out to the expanse of open land in front of me. In fact, what went through my thoughts gazing out across the various textures and colors of the just-blooming desert floor was a very spiritual … Read more