Last week, I talked with a friend and she noted that she'd been in a "blah mood"--but couldn't figure out why. There were no new challenges, no worries at present about medical tests results for family or friends, nothing bad had happened. She could list things she was grateful for--but still felt her spirit was … Continue reading A New Thing Springing Up
pilgrimages
Sit With Me for a While
That morning I headed out from the hostel on my bike, passing by the picnic table where Ruth was sitting in the sun. “Sit with me for a while, Connie,” Ruth said from her perch. I leaned the bike against the table and sat down. Ruth was eighty-three, a Canadian staying at the hostel while … Continue reading Sit With Me for a While
Free to Be Me
During the week in which we celebrated our country’s independence, our freedom, I think about what it means to be free as an individual-- not to say and do things that hurt others, but to be my unique self. It seems that much of my ability to just be me has been limited by my self-consciousness, my over … Continue reading Free to Be Me
Daily Bread at Tibbett’s Point
It was June and I was celebrating being a 10-year Breast Cancer Survivor, a decade since I’d heard the words, “You have cancer.” I wanted to take my summer journey to a special place, the seventh solo trip that had turned into yearly pilgrimages. Thumbing through a resource book for hostels in the U.S., I … Continue reading Daily Bread at Tibbett’s Point
If It Feels Wrong
When we were children, many of us heard our parents say, “If it feels wrong, don’t do it.” That was a way to help us judge right from wrong, that internal compass that kept us on the proper course. Probably those first deciding points were about how we were treating our siblings-- at least it … Continue reading If It Feels Wrong
Happy Wanderer
I should have left an hour earlier. That’s what I said to myself when I was in bumper-to-bumper traffic for almost an hour, just after leaving Jacksonville, Florida with a seven-hour drive ahead. My rental car was due back at Raleigh-Durham airport by 8:00 p.m. and I didn’t want to add an extra day of … Continue reading Happy Wanderer
Traveling Light
Before my journey to Iona, I’ll spend time traveling with my husband, David. Our trip together will celebrate being a couple for forty years-- thirty-nine of those married. When I take the train from Edinburgh west to Oban, he’ll head to the airport for his flight home. In a way, I’ll be packing for two … Continue reading Traveling Light
Connie Rosser Riddle 