Five Things - April 6, 2026

Welcome to my blog titled ‘Five Things’ where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. I’ll also share a quote I find meaningful as a point of focus for the week. For photos of my books, kids, pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.

So here are this week’s five things, starting with the quote of the week…

1. "Never think that war, no matter how necessary nor how justified, is not a crime. Ask the infantry and ask the dead." — Ernest Hemingway

2. Sunday, we hosted our kids, their significant others, and my sister and brother-in-law at our new place in Pasadena. In Rhode Island, we regularly entertained, using any excuse to host a party, but it’s been a while since we’ve been able to gather in our own space. We ate, drank, went swimming under the gorgeous SoCal sun, and made quite merry. I can barely keep my eyes open today, but it was worth!

3. As we wind up the spring semester, I’ve had the opportunity to study a little bit of screenwriting, which is so exciting. I’ve wanted to translate some of my novels and short fiction work into screenplays but didn’t know where to begin. After a few great conversations with one of our sons who is a screenwriter and more with a good friend who is also in the industry, I think I’ve found a place to start. I drafted an opening scene for a class project today, and it was so much fun. I really look forward to playing with this new (to me) form!

4. Ray and I went to the Huntington Garden for a couple of hours on Friday. We’re members now, but I was the only one who’d visited so far when I took an out-of-town friend. This time, I wanted to check out the rose garden in particular, and it did not disappoint! The blooms were gorgeous. It’s truly magical! I have to remind myself that it would make a great place to bring a blanket and my laptop to enjoy the beauty and inspiration sometimes only nature can provide.

5. I am currently reading my classmates’ theses projects. All of them are full-length novels, and all of them are just so good. It will take me awhile to get through them, but we are all trying to read each other’s work as a show of support. I am humbled and inspired by the incredible talent in my cohort!

Five Things - March 2, 2026

Welcome to my blog titled ‘Five Things’ where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. I’ll also share a quote I find meaningful as a point of focus for the week. For photos of my books, kids, pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.

So here are this week’s five things, starting with the quote of the week…

1. "Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die." - Herbert Hoover

2. One of my favorite things about our new home is that we are about an hour from the beach and thirty minutes from the mountains. In the span of a week, we’ve visited both! Daisy enjoyed playing in the snow and in the sand, and we got to appreciate the varied, beautiful landscapes that make up southern California.

3. I’m on the homestretch of editing my thesis novel. The ending is written, and I’m satisfied with it, but I’m still tweaking what I call the ‘after action’ stuff. With such an emotionally taxing, action-filled saga, I want to make sure my readers feel satisfied when they hit the end, yet are still left with enough curiosity that they’ll be excited for the second book. It’s a delicate balance, and I really want to get it right!

4. Yesterday, I visited the Huntington Gardens with a friend. The locals have all highly recommended it, and I wasn’t disappointed. The Japanese Gardens were particularly lovely, with plenty of space to sit and appreciate the beauty and peace that sometimes only nature can provide.

5. So, there are parrots in Pasadena! I’ve heard a few theories on how these non-native birds made their home in suburbia. Some folks think the rather impressive flock of over 2000 are the descendants of escaped pets, but one of the most interesting bits of local lore surrounds a man named Hal Simpson. I found more on this theory, which is my favorite, in an article by Aaron Rickle Jones in the LA Field Guide …

Hal started Simpson’s Garden Town Nursery in East Pasadena in 1928 with a $500 loan and a wide variety of interests. Over the next forty years, it would grow to become the largest and most diversified garden center in Los Angeles, hosting a plant nursery, lawnmower shop, materials shop, garden supply center, florist, and a pet store. Tragedy struck Simpsons in 1959 when an electrical fire started in the pet store and threatened to annihilate the entire facility. Rather than watch dozens of exotic animals burn alive, firefighters and a pet store employee scrambled to open the cages and unwittingly changed the course of Pasadena history as 70 parrots took to the Southern California skies.