Parchment Paths

I don't claim to be an expert on the weather. I do know that weather patterns change suddenly and frequently.  I witnessed this changeability first hand Thursday night as a tornado ripped through a series of shopping centers around where I work.  While the storm completely destroyed an entire strip  mall close by, it only clipped the store on the end of the strip mall my store resides in.      The strip mall up the hill took damage to one half, and another, where a Barnes and Noble resides, was heavily damaged as well.  While my heart aches for all the people now out of work, I am so grateful that my store was spared.  It does not mean we are any better than any of those other stores; it just means that for whatever reason we were meant to remain open. I pray the other stores will reopen, and in the meantime , jobs will be provided for all those out of work.   Till then, please come out and support the stores that are still open, Target, Bob's Marshall's, eat a

I got the chance to go to the beach last month. It was my first time since I was around nine years old.   While I prefer the forest, I’d forgotten how much I also love the ocean. There’s just something about it that stirs the imagination and draws me back. I visited two of the Delaware beaches, Bethany and Rehoboth with my good friends, Nicole and Tim. Before going to the beach, we stopped for doughnuts at the hilariously named The Fractured Prune. Nicole had enthusiastically recommend the shop for years, so I was excited to finally try one of these fabled, made to order cake doughnuts. I tried S’mores and coffee flavored doughnuts and found her enthusiasm to be well placed.    I loved them so much, I wish there was a Fractured Prune near me! After collecting our doughnuts, we drove to Bethany Beach.  After seeing glimpse of the sand and water along the way, I was getting anxious to be on the sand and in the water.   I was thrilled when we fou