I have started a new blog, in addition to “From the Top of the Cliff”.  It is called “The Home Archaeology Report” and is meant primarily for my own family members.  I have a rather sizable stash of family mementos that I would like to share.  However,

I woke up this morning to a cat sitting on my back casually grooming her nails.  She only weighs eight pounds, so she is not very noticeable unless she pounces or jumps on me for some reason.  Quietly climbing onboard is a subtle change in my environment and is only somewhat

I realize that most of the world does not care about American football, but our country just finished the 44th year of the National Football League’s Super Bowl match up, and lots of people in this country care a LOT!  Millions of dollars’ worth of  television

This is a small painting of a place in the Hill Country of central Texas that brings joyful memories to many people.  The place is Mo Ranch, which has been a camp and retreat center for the Presbyterian Church since the 1940’s.  A fellow Presbyterian  asked me to paint one

Our friends who were in Haiti to try to re-open the hospital in Leogane told the story of coming to the United States for a couple of weeks at Christmas to visit friends and family, and buying a large supply of LED flashlights to take back to the hospital in Haiti as presents for

This isn’t exactly a traditional valentine, is it?  Real valentines don’t come in blue, but this one does.  The blue ceramic heart came from my mom and I could not imagine how I would use it at first.  But then I contemplated  just how many romances and “true

We have good friends who, after they “retired”, moved on to the really challenging projects, like spending 2003 building a nursing school in Leogane, Haiti.  They were called back again in 2009 to help in the effort to re-open a hospital that had died for lack of

I made this mosaic yesterday as an escape from a mosaic that I could not seem to accomplish.   The way I explained it to someone who inquired about its meaning on my Flickr photos is this:  the idea presented itself when I was using similar materials to design a different piece,

The other day my family was discussing with a friend how our brains perceive information coming in from our senses.  The senses of sight, sound, and touch seem to be newer products of evolution than the senses of taste and smell, which are linked.  Only a few types of receptors

Here is my Christmas card to you- a paper collage.  For some time now, I’ve been thinking about the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh that, in Matthew’s story, the scholars from the East brought to Jesus after they realized that a new king had been born near