stephanieraffelockJan 232 minPandemic PoetryWho did we used to be before “normal” was a place to which we longed to return? If we find that place again, will we be restored to our...
stephanieraffelockDec 14, 20212 minCultivate the Sweet MomentsTom dresses up like Santa Claus. He has decorated a corner of his front yard with Christmas backdrops pinned to the fence, along with...
stephanieraffelockNov 7, 20213 minKeep The FaithSometime in April of 1973, just days after I turned twenty-one, I started waitressing at The Whisky A Go Go on Sunset Boulevard. I knew...
stephanieraffelockOct 30, 20213 minThe Her Spirit Writing RetreatLet the beauty we love, be what we do. There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the ground. ~Rumi I looked forward to the retreat for...
stephanieraffelockSep 6, 20214 minThe Frightening Fade of Roe v. WadePhoto Credit: Sebastian Kaczoroski Texas. Ground Zero. Back to where we started almost fifty years ago. It took three years for Roe v....
stephanieraffelockAug 22, 20216 minMaking A BookI am so grateful to be writing. The process helps me to make sense of the world and make sense of my life. Making books is my passion,...
stephanieraffelockJul 17, 20213 minAltars and Everyday RitualsThe small stone Buddha was meant for the garden, but it was cold and raining the day that I brought it home. Thinking I’d move it outside...
stephanieraffelockJul 7, 20212 minCaution: Writer StretchingI put aside a work in progress, a manuscript that needs to settle before I can pick it up again. Such an action stirs in me other...
stephanieraffelockJun 29, 20216 minMenopause Is An InitiationWhy does nature keep us alive after we can no longer reproduce? Our biological usefulness that assures the proliferation of the species...
stephanieraffelockJun 19, 20212 minA Summer PrayerFor ten days, I haven’t written a thing. Instead, I’ve let myself be overcome by summer, getting drunk on the exquisite heat that lingers...
stephanieraffelockMay 23, 20213 minMarking the YearsRecently, my friend Tara was taking some pictures of me in the park. In one shot, the light was just right, revealing how silver my hair...
stephanieraffelockMay 6, 20214 minHappy Mother's DayIf she were alive this mother’s day, my mom would be a hundred and ten years old. She’s been gone for twenty years, but I can still hear...
stephanieraffelockApr 23, 20213 minOde To An Aging NeckI would love to tell you that I’m so evolved that I never lament lost youth. But, I’m only human, and today this human is thinking way...
stephanieraffelockApr 17, 20213 minPandemics, Politics and Masks, Oh MyThe whole mask thing is exhausting. I don’t mean wearing a mask. I understand that pathogens can be passed through air. I see a mask as a...
stephanieraffelockApr 8, 20213 minThe How of Self-Love and AcceptanceMy message, work, and sense of purpose is about women. I advocate for women to live lives of opportunity and equality on a level playing...
stephanieraffelockApr 2, 20213 minA Kayak, A Birthday and Women FriendsI try to stay on a schedule and post a new blog every Thursday or Friday. But this week, I feel like a little kid about to be let out of...
stephanieraffelockMar 19, 20214 minGuess Who's Coming to Dinner?For the longest time, I thought that my husband and I were the worst dinner guest in the world. When kind and unsuspecting people invite...
stephanieraffelockFeb 18, 20213 minThe Great Texas Freeze of 2021Snowed in. Now there’s a phrase I never expected to use again. Not when hubby said to me, just prior to our move here, “we’re going to...
stephanieraffelockFeb 12, 20217 minSwimming With The DolphinsThe road is straight, marsh water on either side. A lot of the Keys are like this; a solid piece of highway, that banks down to the...
stephanieraffelockFeb 4, 20214 minA Brief History Of A Screen Filled LifeI remember my first business website. So new was the idea, that the local newspaper called and asked if they could do a story on my...