Thoughts From Annie

Dear Friends, While I was out walking the dogs in the cold this morning, I noticed all of the empty flowerbeds in my neighbors’ front yards. They were rather barren — snow covered and filled with shriveled dreary looking stalks. The beds definitely looked depressing, but, strangely, they made me think about something quite happy.…

Dear Friends, Happy Holiday Season!  I remember when my kids were young and my parents would show up at our house for Christmas.  My dad would still be turning off the engine and my mom would already be up on our front porch lugging several lawn-sized garbage bags filled with presents.  She truly looked like…

Dear Friends, I recently learned that the Zen teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, is quite ill. He may yet recover, but it’s still unsure. Thich Nhat Hanh, also known as Thay, is 88 years old. He has been practicing and teaching mindfulness and meditation for 72 years. I have been a student of his for the…

Dear Friends, I recently learned the sanskrit word for bowl, patra.  During the Buddha’s time, monks and nuns took their patra on alms rounds.  On their rounds, townspeople would  scoop food into the monastic’s patra for their one meal of the day.    Patra is similar to the English word for cup, because it can mean both the vessel itself and…

Dear Friends, Last week I had an argument with my partner, to whom I’ve been married for 26 years. I was showing him around my new office space, and he made a joke about it. Something to the effect that he was going to use it when he needed to get away from his office. You…

Dear Friends, A few weeks ago, I invited a friend to visit me in DC and I planned a relaxing weekend for the two of us in the Virginia mountainside. A week before the visit, another friend let me know that she happened to be coming to DC for a meeting that same weekend. I…

Dear Friends, I used to smoke cigarettes, on occasion I still do, and two of my adult children are smokers. I often hear people wonder aloud how anyone can continue to smoke when they know how bad it is for them. The same question is often asked about over-eating, drinking, posting on Facebook, and other…

Dear Friends, I have been staying at a guesthouse in the countryside for the last week. This morning as I was lying in bed, I watched a mouse run out of my bedroom, into the kitchen, and disappear somewhere out of view. I didn’t jump up or get excited, but seeing the mouse definitely put…

Dear Friends, At a party several weeks ago, a friend of mine expressed her hurt and disappointment because I hadn’t found the time to get together with her during the previous six months. My extremely insensitive answer was, “Well you’re not the only one, I just canceled lunch this week with K.” Later that week,…

Dear Friends, Last month, someone asked me how I got a tan on my face in the middle of the winter. So I explained. My 22-year-old daughter Hanna and I were at our mountain cabin during a snowstorm which dropped two feet of snow there in the Virginia Blue Ridge mountains. It was lovely and…