Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

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Ready or Not

December 4, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

haiti children orphanage Jeremie mission

  I’ve had months to get ready. But I’m not ready. I google “animals in Haiti,” “birds in Haiti,” “snakes in Haiti.” and “Haitian culture.” I immerse myself inFlickr‘ed blue and red and green and pink gingerbread architecture and cough from dust rising in YouTubevideos. I wonder if I’ll have to eat goat.

Filed Under: haiti, stories and reflections

Still Grappling with Grief

November 28, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

  One year ago yesterday, my mother died. I’m angry. And sad. And grateful. I’m remembering, second-guessing every decision. Immediately after her fall and diagnosis of a brain tumor, she spent several weeks in a local nursing home. She was not safe for surgery at that point. After the biopsy, she transferred to rehab where […]

Filed Under: stories and reflections

31 Days of Coming to Grips with My Age ~ Day 30: When You’re Feeling Weathered and Worn

October 30, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

I saw her for the first time today. She’s sat there for probably 150 years, and I’ve passed her by 150 times–or more. I don’t know what caught my eye on this gray misty day. I don’t know what forced me to halt the Journey half on road, half in ditch and gaze on her […]

Filed Under: 31 days 2012, stories and reflections

31 Days of Coming to Grips with My Age – Day 24: Counting

October 24, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

A new day stretches, and the sky wraps me soft like a baby blanket. The air breathes damp and gentle against my face, sighs into my hair. The cracked concrete of the driveway apron is still wet from the rain, and my children’s small handprints are barely visible in the eroding. Yet Lake Abby spreads dry […]

Filed Under: 31 days 2012, stories and reflections

The Tale of the Lost Wallet

August 1, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

“Joe lost his wallet,” she texted. “What? Oh no. How?” “We stopped at the store, then went to McD’s. And he couldn’t find it. He put it on the boat while we put drinks in the cooler. It must have blown off!” I’ve already slipped into her shoes. Pulled on the guilt wrap. Wondering if […]

Filed Under: stories and reflections

Five Minute Friday: It’s Beyond Me

July 27, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

  I’m having one of those feelings.   I can’t put my finger on it, and I can’t describe it. Like where part of me has separated from this body that houses me. Does it ever happen to you? I know it sounds weird. And it’s beyond me.   The air is fresh this morning. The […]

Filed Under: stories and reflections, writing

Roots, Relationships, and a Seagull

June 20, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

The parsley and the basil roots pant for water as they bake in their biodegradable pots. I meant to sink them deep long before this. And the geranium 6-pack baskets, bought over a month ago when spring exploded early? Once luscious red, now with browned heads.   I need perennials. Plants that thrive and spread […]

Filed Under: stories and reflections

When You Need a Little Fixing

June 12, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

I’d forgotten about this post from almost two years ago until the other day when Duane called my attention to it. It was a post I’d linked to one of his “Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays.” A bunch of random thoughts. I decided to dust it off and repost it today. I’d call it kind of a […]

Filed Under: stories and reflections

Spiritual Seizures, Surrender, Starvation, and Possibility

June 7, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

It’s an Indian taco spread, and I’ve heaped my plate. I’m munching homemade tortilla chips while I watch the birthday girl in the air-filled jump house. And one of my daughter’s friends, he says those words. “You’re a good writer, right?” I stare a minute, and mutter quiet. “Um, I write.” Mentally I smack myself […]

Filed Under: stories and reflections, writing

Red is . . . (a color poem)

May 22, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

  Red is a geranium, the only flower I can’t kill. It’s a blood orange in the west and a sign that means stop. Red is the crunch of leaves, a cardinal’s song, and hummingbirds fighting at the feeder. It’s a barn full of stomping hooves and swishing tails. Red is a warm tomato fresh […]

Filed Under: poetry, stories and reflections

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I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

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“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final t “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” ~ Philippians 4:8 

#fall #southflorida #hope #thoughts #philippians4 #dayafterelection
“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in th “My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.” ~ William Wordsworth in “My Heart Leaps Up”

🌈🌈🌈

From my back door and then from the patio. A phone can never capture the true glory of a rainbow. I hope my heart never fails to leap at the wonder of one.
We were monarch parents a couple years back, but o We were monarch parents a couple years back, but our food was not enough to support all our “children.”
🌱
But some were better parents. And next month @tspoetry is celebrating with a garden party. And you are invited. 
🌱

✨ An evening poetry celebration with Dheepa Maturi, Laura Boggess, Jules Jacob, and Sonja Johanson
✨ sign up today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/year-of-the-monarch-garden-party-tickets-1005650847757
✨
This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at a farmers market in Ponte Vedra in Feb 2023. And it hasn’t done a thing except not die. I did repot it a few months back just cuz I thought it might need it. A few days ago I noticed it was sprouting a sprout. And today—10 days after having my aortic valve replaced and the day after having a loop recorder inserted—it has UNFURLED!!! A new heart. 🩷
Looking west this morning. “Sometime, enough o Looking west this morning. 

“Sometime, enough of us should plan
to gather and form our own
luminous cloud.” ~ Luci Shaw in “The Weight of Air” (from The Generosity)
Security is on the job. Security is on the job.
So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it's finally come to this. One week from today I will have my aortic valve replaced. Eeeek! I know it's done all the time--piece of cake. But that's to other people. 😂 Speaking of cake, I've always hoped to blow out 100 candles (at least), and I keep singing this line in my head...

"And my heart will go on and on." Thanks to @celinedion. 💕
Hi! Long time, no post. So… I grew this from a Hi! Long time, no post. So…

I grew this from a pineapple top. We repotted it again over the weekend. Still no fruit, though. Our neighbor has a baby growing on a small plant, though. What’s up with that?

(Also, I do not have a green thumb. Currently the only things still living are this, an avocado, and a little Boston fern.)
We got out here early today, but it was already so We got out here early today, but it was already soooooo hot (later on the"feels like" was 110), and I was just plodding one foot in front of the other wishing I was still in bed. There was not much to see--except the crane family, some blackbirds, a dove. And it was buggy. And a deer fly bit me on the forearm, and it swelled up, and I still have a 1- x 3-inch reddened area. But then... a pink parade.
Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking s Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking sky from my back patio with my iPhone! I grew up in Michigan and never saw them before! #northernlights #westboca #southflorida
“So they took branches of palm trees and went ou “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” ~ John 12:13
🌴
🌴
PALMS

He had a date with them. ~SHK
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🌴
~ Six words I wrote on my blog in 2015 as part of a daily “One Word Less for Lent” series.
🌴
Photo taken in Israel, 2022.
Dressed for success... Dressed for success...
“Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The “Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The First Spring Day” by Christina Rossetti via Every Day Poems and @tspoetry in my email this morning. 
❣️
Whole poem (with lots of favorite lines) here:
❣️
https://open.substack.com/pub/everydaypoems/p/the-first-spring-day?r=3acod&utm_medium=ios
❣️
Wild red poppy anemones from our spring trip to Israel in 2022. And, of course, red is the color of hope. 
❣️
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry #everydaypoems
Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the other was hit by a car. 😭💔
Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo
South Florida is confused. South Florida is confused.
“Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 “Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 in “The mermaid breathes,” a woven poem from tweets. In my email today from Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱 
#dipintopoetry #everydaypoems #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #poetsofig #tweetspeakpoetry
"You have what you need / is what the birds sing a "You have what you need / is what the birds sing all morning" ~ Annie Lighthart in "Conditions of Happiness."
🌱
In my email this morning from 
Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #everydaypoems #poem #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry
If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week should be a snap. #wednesday
Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So will all those shots. Mostly.
🦝
D still has PTSD from the Great Possibly Rabid Raccoon Brouhaha of 2021.
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