About

It all started in Warrensburg, Missouri in my aunt and uncle’s living room. I had traveled there from Temple, Texas by train. I had caught the stomach flu while en route. I remember my dad, and my aunt and uncle showing me to the guest room where I promptly dropped my bags, stretched out prostrate on the carpet, and fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke, I nested in their living room recliner and created my first WordPress blog. I called it Petty’s the Muse. It has been renamed many times since then. It’s enduring name is what you’ll find here.

During the first summer of Covid, I came into my own when I chronicled a military move from Alabama to Alaska on WordPress and called it Life Out Here. That fall, as Alaska’s fuchsia fireweed turned blood-red, and as snow turned to rain, I wrote “North to Alaska,” my first story series.

Stories of the move gave way to stories of our new life in Alaska, and of young motherhood during a pandemic. I wrote about the contrast of light and dark; the wonder of summer and the sorrow of winter; the Iditarod and a road trip to North Pole. I wrote a lot about fear, worry, and God’s gentle, persistent invitation to be still. Then life got busy.

Life got real.

I battled depression and anxiety. My son, Izaak, battled developmental delays. I got pregnant and we welcomed number three into the world. My weekly muses grew scattered. Prose gave way to poetry and then I went quiet.

Just a nature grows through seasons, so do our souls, and in my season of silence – when I was reduced to the core of myself – I saw again the flicker what is most important to me. And I learned that writing is as essential to my soul as the wildflowers are to summer hillsides.

I am ready to once again share snapshots of our life, now in Florida; to share glimpses of my life as an autism mom; to empower you in whatever season of life you find yourself; to renew vision; to offer healing; to be healed.

You will find these new posts, the chronicles of my Wildflower Days, on Substack. I look forward to seeing you there!