EARTH DAY 2021

Saluting Rachel Carson and A SILENT SPRING Essay and photos by Patricia Zick @PCZick “All mankind is in her debt.” Sen Abraham Rubicoff in 1964 after the death of Rachel Carson You might ask who is Rachel Carson? I had heard of her prior to moving to Pittsburgh in 2010, but I wasn’t completely aware

It’s Growing! #gardenlove

My husband rushed to put all of his seedlings in his newly built garden bed before we headed to Florida for a few weeks. The light began fading from the day as he tenderly placed the last plant in the soil he’d been preparing for a few weeks. And then the heavens opened up. He

Poisoning the Poor Redux

I posted this post back in February. Yesterday I heard a report on NPR that Flint residents still can’t drink their water. They must still pick up water from city hall. The donations of bottled water have fallen off. And still, the people suffer because of horrid decisions made by those in power. The Detroit

SAYING GOOD-BYE TO #PITTSBURGH

Nearly seven years ago, Pittsburgh took me by surprise when it grabbed my heart and squeezed. All I knew of the city came from my college geography and history classes. At the time, I was struck by the role of rivers in the formation of cities. Pittsburgh doesn’t just have one river, but three, and

STOP THE BULLYING

I wrote the essay that follows two years ago after attending a football game between Notre Dame and the University of Pittsburgh. This past weekend the two teams once again took the field in Pittsburgh, and I asked my husband if it had been Notre Dame fans who almost ruined one of our few visits

Lessons on Moving

My life has been one big box of junk for the past three months. I’ve posted enough about that move. If you’re like me and you’re behind on your blog reading, here’s a list of my previous posts. Just click on the title to read. Thoughts on Moving Saying Good-bye Mountain Living Mindful Monday –

A BASEBALL LOVE STORY – THIRD BASE

Hello – a Happy July to you all. We moved into the new digs this past week, but head back to Pittsburgh in a few days. I hate to leave but I still love the Steel City and plan on enjoying my last few weeks living there to the fullest. In between all the moves,

Serendipity at Sixty

Next month a milestone birthday visits me when I turn sixty years old. Sixty? Are you kidding me? How can I be sixty when I still feel thirty? I’ve become more intro- and retrospective this year because I know for sure I’m beyond what we refer to as “middle-aged.” And I’m not sure how it

Pittsburgh’s Phipps Conservatory

Flashback to 2009, and the invitation to visit my now husband in Pittsburgh where he lived. I’d never had the city on my top ten places to visit, and Robert knew I was reluctant to travel to what I thought of as a dirty city. That’s why soon after my plane landed, he took me to

From Virtual to Live Friend

I’m fortunate to have a load of virtual friends and fellow authors through my blogs and my writers’ group. When I first started my leap into Indie Authordom, one person appeared in my online life and has remained constant. She writes under the name, Rachelle Ayala, and she was the first to appear on my