Spring Ascending
One starless night in early spring my friend Emma and I drove off into the darkness to count migrating Sandhill Cranes We were taking part in an annual event sponsored by the National Audubon Society. The outing involved groups of enthusiastic bird watchers setting out […]
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A Gentle Walk Toward Healing
(Article first published by CaringBridge) Mary Farr, left, with JoAnn Hardegger, mother of Baby Brighid, the namesake of CaringBridge, at a November 2017 event marking the 20th anniversary of CaringBridge and launch of the How We Heal series. Pediatric hospital chaplain and ordained minister Mary […]
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Why I Write Humor
I might have been ten years old when my father, an upstanding circuit court judge, handed me a giftwrapped copy of Damon Runyon’s Guys and Dolls. While this might have seemed like an odd choice of reading material for a ten-year-old girl, it suited me […]
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Pets Really know How to Celebrate Holidays
One lap around the house with my Shark 3X Capacity Vacuum proved that our family pets have perfected the art of holiday celebration. A vacuum tank stuffed with dog hair, catnip, and shredded tissue reminded me that my family has been hosting pet-friendly holidays for […]
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How We Heal
Last week my friend Cynthia died. An internal medicine physician who diagnosed her own ALS, Cynthia spent an entire career caring for underserved and overlooked individuals and families. A doctor of exceptional clinical skills, she owned another gift – a capacity to heal as well […]
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The Real Meaning of Deer Hunting… Friendship
One thing I’ve learned about riding horseback during deer hunting season: never underestimate the value of a cowbell around your horse’s neck. I’m referring to that time of year when every buck stalker in possession of a Cabela’s credit card slips into blaze orange and […]
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The Halloween Horror Campaign
(Note) Many of you will recall a couple of years ago I published a book titled Never Say Neigh. It featured my horse Noah Vail’s take on fun, funny, and some insightful details surrounding the human condition. Given the current season and tone of said […]
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Surprised by My Mother’s Diary
A recent fall nesting impulse found me mining beef stew recipes Sifting through an old Victorian secretary that sat in my living room, I met with an unusual surprise. The secretary, chock-full of my mother’s personal correspondence, had stood undisturbed for several years following her […]
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Noodling a New Book Marketing Plan
It’s time for me to face the facts. Instead of aging with grace and panache as I had planned, I seem to be simply disappearing. Invisible. Out of site. Past tense. Not that anyone would call me quiet or easy to miss. To the contrary, […]
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Meet Mary’s New Book, If I Could Mend Your Heart, a small quiet walk toward healing
Life offers plenty of rewards, adventures and opportunities. It also presents us with setbacks and challenges. Eventually, we all must come to terms with loss. In a new edition of her acclaimed book, If I Could Mend Your Heart (Shorehouse Books, 2017), St. Paul author […]
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The Promise in
Plan B
What we bring to the
next chapter in our lives.
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Never Say Neigh
An Adventure in Fun, Funny,
and the Power of Yes
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If I Could Mend Your Heart
When no words can fully express our care and concern