Stories & Blogs
Roy’s Sunday Letter for July 2, 2023
I am taking a July break from composing and sending forth The Sunday Letter. The SL began as friends wanted to know how Beth and I were adjusting to our Apri, 2020 decision to return to Fort Worth from our days in Amarillo and Santa Fe. There have been 159 Sunday Letters, never missing a…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for June 25, 2023
** We have intentionally planted to attract bees and butterflies. Google says the butterflies have a life-span of two to four weeks, some less or more. Accessible and available nectar is vital. Thank you to the summers’ butterflies for blessing us with your beauty and grace. ** Philanthropy journals are reporting a 25% decline in…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for June 18, 2023
** Why I listen to jazz: A jazz group will begin together; then, players will drop back, others step up. Jazz presents the whole as well as the individual, all flowing together. To me, this is why I miss Tuesdays at 9 staff meetings. Seven at the table, the individual reporting, ending with the whole…
Roys Sunday Letter fot June 11,2023
** We now have two hummingbirds coming to our feeder. Three or four would be a normal summer count. Global warming, decline of natural habitat? ** Good writing from a Fiction book: “She (he) was too young and had no stories or depth of life to reply upon.” An additional comment from recent presentation on…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for June 4, 2023
** Saturday, I joined others around Texas and across the US by wearing Orange, as our way of standing against gun violence and harm to innocents. There were speakers, panels, storytelling, and education, and, of course, Tshirts. Across town there was the monthly Gun Show with over-flow lines and parking. ** Interview with researcher/author of…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for May 28, 2023
** Thursday marked 365 days since the gun deaths of 19 students & 2 faculty in Uvalde, south Texas. My Texas Legislature turned away from the pain, the challenge, of leadership, of courage, to take common ground steps to make schools safe. Dallas ISD has distributed “Stay Safe,” a Winnie-The-Pooh book teaching 5-year-olds to “run,…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for May 21, 2023
** A Santa Fe writer friend linked me to “836 Valencia.” This San Francisco nonprofit began the unique mission of teaching children and teens how to write their story. This program strives to improve reading and comprehension as an integral part of learning. The empowerment of writing is now in multiple sites in San Franciso…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for May 14, 2023
** Wendy’s is testing an “AI Chatbots” for drive-thru. The chatbot will be able take your order and answer questions. Wendy’s says Covid, economic changes, and staff shortages are the reasons. Wendy’s drive thru now provides 80% of all their food orders. Gear up people, the times are indeed changing. ** I use Mailer Lite…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for May 7, 2023
** Beth and I now have our 6th Covid vaccination. Our pharmacist hopes next year the Covid and flu shot will be combined, making protection easier for us and pharmacist as well. ** St. Andrews Episcopal in Amarillo (our home church) was vandalized Wednesday night. Broken people breaking sacred peace and damaging the interior. The…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for April 30,2023
** The New Testament (Matthew 6: 9 – 13) gives us the traditional Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily prayer.” I now know more of how we are all connected, the interdependence of climate, crops, support to both large and small, urban and rural communities. I suggest this updated wording; “Give to all…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for April 26, 2026
About HOPE….How To Keep….Offer HOPE To Others Lately, as I have talked and listened to friends and family, I heard and felt their general despair. This despair seems to be from reports on the news, decisions being made by the unqualified, random acts of violence and harm to the innocent. I also heard and felt…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for April 19, 2026
Benefits of Letting the Old Man or Woman In Toby Keith wrote and recorded Don’t Let the Old Man In during his last months of treatment and eventual death from stomach cancer. There is a popular site offering T-shirts, hats, and bags with this message. I understand the resistance and push back of letting the…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for April 12, 2026
Paying Attention And Accepting My Limitations Beth, Peter, and I gather twice monthly to share writings and journals. We three also share of our individual lives. Beth and Peter encouraged me to allow a recent individual writing as the content of a Sunday Letter and thus I have done so this week. This Sunday Letter…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for April 5, 2026
This Easter weekend Beth & I walked our neighborhood block of 16 homes. Beth had prepared a gift bag for each neighbor with Zucchini bread, a card with her original art on the front and contact information. Both Jesus and Mr. Rogers spoke about neighbors. By knocking on 16 doors, we extended the hand of…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for March 29, 2026
Neighbors and Neighborhoods 2026 I am writing this week about the ways both neighbors and neighborhoods have changed, never to return to the days of images and memories of our experiences often reflected in a TV series or movie. Beth and I live on a traditional block of 16 homes. In my youth I grew-up…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for March 22, 2026
Being Safe, Prayers All Will Be Safe Where was your safe place as a child and later as a teen? Who were the individuals or groups who taught you about safety and provide you safety as a child…as a teen. Today, who are you teaching about safety and being free from harm? In what ways…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for Match 15, 2026
A Writing About Balancing The Quiet & The Noise A writer of people’s stories placed a recording microphone in a city park. His sign, asked a simple question, Who Inspired You? The resulting stories were of teachers, grandparents and the encouragement of others. I would add these similar signs: Who Gave You Comfort? Who Listened…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for March 8, 2026
Meaningful Insights of the Week This week’s Sunday Letter will highlight several insights, words and phrases I have read or heard this week. Friends and family members who give us support continue to change, shift as illness, relocations, death, and lifestyle preferences reshape our circle of relationships. Hopefully, we are adding and inviting new friends,…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for March 1, 2026
The Unfolding of Life and Faith My parents attended a neighborhood church which meant early Sunday morning, Sunday school and back again for evening Training Union. I accepted a youthful Faith as taught to me by caring adults I knew and trusted. As I grew physically, my early faith carried me through my teen years…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for February 22, 2026
A Reflection and Summary of Our Monks 110 Day Journey & Their Now Return Our local Monks, now with national and international followers, have returned to their home Temple grounds from their 110 day Walk for Peace. I humbly add my thoughts to the writers who know more and better described the people, events and…