Author: Sharon Cook

I heard it coming in the distance an hour or so before it arrived in my neighbourhood. At first, it was just a few soft rumbles that gradually increased in volume until finally the storm was right over my house. One thunderclap was so loud … Read more

My summer home is both small and old — 30 years old this year. The appliances have all been updated, but the kitchen sink is original and sometimes hard to get clean. The other day, I scrubbed it with my favourite cleanser, but there were … Read more

My summer home is in the White Mountains of Arizona, USA. Because this area is so lush in the summer, ranchers bring their cattle up from lower elevations to feast on the acres of green vegetation tucked in between the ponderosa pines and … Read more

The road from my winter home to my summer home rises from 1700 feet (518 metres) to 6400 feet (1950 metres), and it is 143 miles (230 kilometres) from the Sonoran Desert to the White Mountains of Arizona, USA. For half an hour, I travel on … Read more

While we were at church on Sunday morning, August 31, 1986, a Piper Cherokee nearby collided with the stabilizers of Aeroméxico Flight 498. The small private plane crashed in an empty school playground in Cerritos, California, USA; all … Read more

One late evening a couple of years ago, I was playing a word game on my phone as I usually do. In those days, I would put my phone on airplane mode so that I wouldn't get ads while playing the game. I rarely got phone calls at that time of … Read more

I sigh with pleasure as I slip into bed between crisp sheets and pull up the covers — at least two of them plus a bedspread. I like to sleep with weight on top of me, summer or winter. I feel more secure when cuddled under several … Read more

Recently, I watched a documentary about the world heritage narrow-gauge Kalka-Shimla Railway in northern India. Shimla is in the cool Himalayan foothills and once was the summer capital of British India as government and army staff escaped … Read more

When people say that they are hostage to something, it means that they are being involuntarily controlled by some outside influence. Sometimes, I feel like I'm being held hostage by forces over which I have no control. The recreational … Read more

When my husband retired at age 55, we moved to a mountain community in central California, USA. Soon, he began to lead Sunday services at the nearby home for disabled adults. Struggling to find ways to help them understand God's message, … Read more