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Downsizing your home and moving to a senior mobile home park does not mean downsizing your life. Just ask the officers who head up the Residents’ Association at Rock Creek Mobilehome Park. These fine folks insist no one has to be lonely in an active and fun community of seniors. The “active and fun” part […]

Dorothe Kress lived happily behind the Iron Curtain (in East Germany) for the first 44 years of her life. How could anyone live “happily” behind the Iron Curtain?Dorothe explains: “In East Germany, I had a good education, a meaningful career, and our basic needs were met. Yes, there were frustrating limits—such as not being allowed to

Here you see Janice preparing color-coded forms for a survey in our mobile home community. Note her smile: Janice is never happier than when she’s doing something useful and creative! For example, recently she (single-handedly) stuffed a donated bookshelf into the trunk of her car and delivered it to our community library. Speaking of books,

One day, I asked Kelly Lardner, “How do you begin to write a novel?” Kelly got a faraway look in her pretty eyes and said, “First, I thoroughly research a particular place and time. Then, complex characters begin to appear in my imagination. They visit me all through the day. While I’m washing dishes, I

Pauline Nevins’ class picture shows a pretty, dark little face, surrounded by a sea of smiling, white children. During World War II, thousands of biracial children were fathered by American service men in Britain—most of whom may have never known of the child. Pauline’s mother never discussed Pauline’s father, not even to say his name.

Meet Romeo–the little yellow-headed parrot on August Abbot’s shoulder. Although August adopted Romeo only a short time ago, he flies straight to her shoulder, nuzzles her ear, and say, I Love You! “He knows this is a safe place,” August says. Nova, the gorgeous blue Hyacinth Macaw seen in the next image, lost his owner

While visiting Kathey Zogg’s warm home, I saw another example of what she calls Memory Art. For the romantic month of February, she has a collection of hearts—golden hearts, ceramic hearts, fabric hearts, big hearts, tiny hearts. Atop the display is a sweet, handwritten love note. One day, she explained, she was temporarily confined to her

Every morning, Sandy Johnson’s husband, Ron, makes his way into the kitchen, presses a button on the floor with his toe, and 1,248 white lights begin a bright new day. “After Christmas,” creative Sandy says, “I decided it could be my Tree-for-all-Seasons.”  This month Sandy’s tree glows with valentines. Next month, shamrocks. And for April—you

Many women I interview for Bright Ideas enjoy time alone. A case in point is my new friend, Constance Alexander. “I live alone–and I like it,” she said. “Maybe I’m an introvert.” Then Constance described how she posts lovely sunset images on Instagram almost every day–just to share the beauty with others. She meditates weekly

Remember how Libby “rode with the thunder?” In that post, she introduced us to the motorcycle ministry—motorcyclists who express their spirituality and generosity by supporting good causes with their time and effort. This is opposed to the Hell’s Angels element of motorcyclists. (Yes, the Hell’s Angels are still roaring around.) Anyway, Libby’s first novel, Port of