by Ashley Larkin | May 2, 2017 | Gratitude, Open endings, Perspective
Horse chestnut trees are considered a nuisance. Ask anyone who’s had one, and they can tell you why. Tell all about the seasons of fallen leaves, spike balls (conkers), sticky pollen pods and flowers smelling of slightly distant poopy diapers. Many of you have...
by Ashley Larkin | Feb 24, 2017 | Five Minute Friday, Perspective
every day i wake slow, gone the days of feet to floor with grand plans these are the days of ordinary and first things, a need for quiet i shuffle downstairs in my cozy wrap and wool slippers, our bed quilt thrown across my arm i start the day with two cups of french...
by Ashley Larkin | Jan 31, 2017 | Perspective, Poetry
the house falls quiet on a rare afternoon all three girls spinning in their spheres and me alone with my dog, who entwines herself around my feet as i light a candle and chop vegetables carrot coins and kale chunks, onions and shallots — these ordinary elements...
by Ashley Larkin | Dec 21, 2016 | Celebration, Faith, Perspective
Hello, friends. I’ve made myself scarce around these parts lately — the usual outcome of a full plate and little room to separate the portions. These days of Advent waiting seem much more like days of doing, plates piled high and course melding with...
by Ashley Larkin | Nov 3, 2016 | Faith, Gratitude, Hope, Love, Perspective
Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. -Mary Oliver- You might have found yourself there. On the backside of an experience that is utterly ground-shifting life change. You’ve returned home, and though part of you wants to...
by Ashley Larkin | Oct 14, 2016 | Faith, Fear, Perfectionism, Perspective
On Tuesday, the sun shone with purpose, and you noted the burlap ground cover and vibrant blue sky. You found yourself standing in that Narnian place of seasons embracing. That holy wrenching mingling of the now and not yet. Just a few days later, the winds whipped...