blog.

For Evelyn, Hallie, William, Katherine, Mike, and Cynthia

By Melissa McKay / April 3, 2023 /

Strap in, folks, because this is a long one. As I’ve stated in a previous blog post, I hate confrontation. I tend to follow the philosophy of that beloved Peanuts cartoon character, Linus; “There are three things I’ve learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and The Great Pumpkin.” Most of my friends and…

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Spring Fever

By Melissa McKay / March 20, 2023 /

Happy spring, y’all! We’ve reached that time of year when I barely have time to write at all, much less get a weekly blog post up. Garden chores demand every moment of my time off. Today, I’ll be starting a second round of seeds: basil (several varieties), marigolds, zinnias, phlox, and a few other things.…

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You Made It Weird

By Melissa McKay / March 13, 2023 /

I am back in the states, and we are just 7 days away from the official beginning of spring. I was pretty surprised on my first walk around the yard at how many things were already in bloom. I sowed about 1,300 seeds last week, and I’ll start round 2 next Monday. The hundreds of…

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Winter Sabbatical 2023: Week 8

By Melissa McKay / February 20, 2023 /

The sad countdown has begun. In 10 days, I will be flying back home to Nashville. Time really does seem to go by faster with age. It feels like I just got here a couple of weeks ago. I’m back from my last bike ride to the farmer’s market. I’m happy to say that the…

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Winter Sabbatical 2023: Week 7

By Melissa McKay / February 13, 2023 /

If you follow me on social media, you know that last week was an eventful one. Tim and I usually only text each other during the day, so when my phone rang last Tuesday I was immediately on edge. Tim called to report that he’d stepped on a loose deck board at a job site…

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Winter Sabbatical 2023: Week 6

By Melissa McKay / February 6, 2023 /

The weekend was gray, windy, and rainy. I’m happy to see the sun again today.  I’ve witnessed something glorious here this week. Even though it was gloomy and windy, I didn’t neglect my morning walks on the beach. On Saturday morning, I had my head down scanning for sea glass and trying to keep the…

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Winter Sabbatical 2023: Week 5

By Melissa McKay / January 31, 2023 /

Tim is on his way back to Nashville as I type this. We had a wonderful weekend together. It amazes me that we are headed into our 30th year of marriage and we still enjoy each other’s company so thoroughly. It was hard to say goodbye, but we know these next four weeks will fly…

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Winter Sabbatical 2023: Week 4

By Melissa McKay / January 23, 2023 /

The week has just begun but I’m already looking forward to the weekend. Tim will (hopefully) arrive Thursday night to spend a few days with me. I say hopefully because of the travel nightmare he experienced last year trying to fit in a short visit with me. Because of mechanical issues and boarding pass mistakes…

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Winter Sabbatical 2023: Week 3

By Melissa McKay / January 16, 2023 /

Hola! It is a beautiful sunny day here in Mexico. Friday and part of Sunday were gloomy, but that is the first spell of not-great weather we’ve had since I arrived. I’d hoped to get some writing done last week, but that didn’t happen. Instead, I’ve spent hours searching for literary journals and magazines that…

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Winter Sabbatical 2023: Week 2

By Melissa McKay / January 9, 2023 /

I had this grand idea last year: I’d buy a bike to ride into town for supplies and to the farmer’s market that’s 2 miles from the condo. Even though I hadn’t ridden a bike in 35 years, I thought this would be a much better way to get around. It was tougher than I’d…

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