Welcome to a journey of tending hearts & mending life.

“An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break.” Chinese Proverb

Welcome to Veranda Vistas. While this blog is a travel journal of sorts, you will quickly find it isn’t an ordinary travel journal. I will begin a journey soon with my best friend, Bert. The only clear destination is to return home. Each day in-between will be its own adventure. I will post photos of places along the journey. I might mention a particular location where I had a tasty treat, found a treasure, or made a new friend. However, my overall purpose with this travel journal, is to create a connection between the adventure that I experience, and you, wherever you are in the world. It’s a slow, circuitous journey connecting us in ways invisible. For me, connection often comes in story form, threaded through a core memory of my life.

For example, one of my earliest memories of a veranda, is sitting on the ranch house veranda of my childhood. The cold concrete seeping into my five year old legs. I had a front row seat to my world. The morning sun warmed my face. I watched a meadowlark alight onto the corner fence post. His brown speckled back, and yellow feathered breast glimmered in the spring sunshine. He surveyed the area with quick, sharp movements of his head. After stretching his wings, he threw back his head, and sang that trilling flutelike song that makes my heart dance. 

Verandas are social places, and sacred spaces.

A veranda, whether attached to a family home, or part of a public venue, has for centuries played a critical role in social life. Cultures around the world have used these roofed, open aired porticos for family celebrations, neighborhood gatherings, quiet conversation with friends, and solo relaxation. Providing shade, fresh air and vistas, a veranda also invite us to take a minute, or ten, to connect with our self, to take in the views of our surroundings, to breathe in memories, and on occasion, take a siesta. Verandas are social places, and sacred spaces…a perfect place for tending hearts & mending life.

Beginning December 20, 2025 I’ll meet you on the veranda for a chat. A moment to take in the vista, wherever we are in the world.