There are two kinds of people: those who adore the time-tested holiday traditions, the shopping, the wrapping, the cooking, the expectations… and those who, for whatever reason, don’t. Of those who don’t, there are the ones who carry on anyway…

When I said I was moving to Bali, someone asked, “What are you running from?” The question struck me as odd. I wasn’t running from, I was running to. After years of doing for others this was for me, my great adventure. It was also a test. Could I survive the loneliness that was sure to come? Read More

I retired in Bali… can you?

Retirement crept up on me. I had excellent health, meager savings and a severe case of age-appropriate denial. Then, three friends died of cancer within eighteen months. I wasn’t yet sixty-one. All younger than I, they had unrealized dreams and unfinished lives. Read More

Recently, a friend had a phone call from someone she’d met several years ago. They had enjoyed a number of conversations over coffee back then, but the man was married with a family. In her mind they were just friends. Read More

The 27-hour flight back to Bali from the U.S. socked it to me this time. So, while I was un-jetlagging and housebound, I rummaged through reading material, organized drawers and, in the process, stumbled upon Grandmother Remembers. Read More

Will I go or will I stay? I found out last November that my first grandchild was on the way. As I shared the news with close friends, they were quick to ask, “Will you move back?” Family members in the U.S. wanted to know the same thing…

Growing up we lived several miles from the nearest town. I wandered the woods and rocky cliffs along the Mississippi River. At six or seven years old, Mother sent me with an empty honey pail to pick wild strawberries in the meadow or blueberries in the marsh. I never thought to be afraid. Read More

There were 6 of us in the car as we chatted our way to one of Bali’s beach towns for a girls’ day out. Don’t ask me to retrace the conversational trail and tell you how we got there, but someone said, “Do you remember Kermit the Frog?” Without missing a beat I started to sing, It’s not easy being green… but stopped in mid-breath. Read More

Do you love cooking? Or, are you a non-foodie in a food centric world? Yes? Then, like me, you would avoid the Annual Food Festival in Ubud. But, this year, it caught me unaware.

Out for a walk, I found myself in a snarl of pedestrian traffic. I had little choice but to join the crowd. I was Alice tumbling down a rabbit hole headfirst into foodie wonderland. Read More