Alexis Hartz, Author

I love this image of Cat's  bravest moment. It was only the second time I saw her climb a tree, and the first time to make it this far up into the branches. She appears to be scouting for her next meal, or perusing the horizon for predators. But in reality, she is just a few feet from a bedroom window where she can be pulled to safety by a willing human. She never was an adventurous cat on her own.  The last time she was in a tree was in 2004.  I had had her only a few weeks and we were still working out the details of our pet owner/pet relationship. She had rebelliously run away one morning and a wandering coyote  forced her to find safety in the tree outside of my condominium while I was at work. As soon as I got home and she heard me walking up the sidewalk she started scolding me for leaving her in such a predicament. Meow, meow, meow, meow...."How could you?" That was the first incident in a string of many over our eleven years together that she c...

Georgia O'Keeffe's Inspiration: Abiquiu, New Mexico Today marks the 30th day I've been on the road and away from home. I've travelled through eight states and logged over 3,500 miles. I'm road weary and homesick. I long for the personal comforts that even the most luxurious hotels cannot offer. Comforts like the weak shower head in my bathroom, sitting on a squatty beach chair on my patio, and the sound of the school bus cruising through the neighborhood promptly at 8:15 each morning. I'm not complaining. Everywhere I go I meet people that tell me how much they would like to be in my shoes, to escape their daily routines and wander. I am grateful that I don't have a regular job and a daily routine, but I think they are all romantics. Great cinematography is somewhat to blame for glamorizing life on the road.  Landscapes captured on film don't capture the smell of excessive motor heat, the eye fatigue caused by incessant sun glare on the da...