We think finding reasons to be grateful is always a worthwhile endeavor. It's too easy to succumb to feeling hopeless and inadequate to face all the new challenges. But not us! It turns out that life just keeps on going, and so we find new ways to feel close and show our love for each other. We get creative. Like these two young women above who have helped us out so much over recent…

We’ve been into bread baking ever since this quirky, wiry welder/bicycle enthusiast/jack of all trades named Doug Moore came to stay with us seven years ago. Being an incredibly generous person, he started off his first day baking a loaf of bread early in the morning when the rest of us were still sleeping. We never asked him to bake bread or do anything else, really, but he just did, did and did again. Since…

The California fires this year have been especially vicious, two of the worst fires ever in state history happening at the same time. We are following the happenings from afar, but at the same time we feel right in the middle. What we’ve been enjoying so much during the last few months, our refuge in the outdoors, has suddenly been taken from us. Ashes fall onto our heads outside and anxiety and stress build up inside. We’re…

  This time of isolation has made us even more aware of how fortunate we are to be living here on the top of the hill, with nature all around us. I’ve enjoyed guilt-free gardening since there was nothing more important to do, and now our herb and vegetable garden is more beautiful and bountiful than ever. When writers and interns return in July we will have much to offer!

Look who I found in the kitchen! It's Joseph cooking Ruth's sweet potato curry - he's actually a little intimidated by cooking, in spite of having created many scrumptious dinners for us in the past. So many writers who come to us are not used to cooking from scratch for a whole crowd of people, but I've never tasted anything where I didn't want to have seconds. We can all cook, especially Joseph!