THE SPRUCE TREE JOURNAL NEWSLETTER

A place of refuge, a time of peace, a message of hope.

July 2025

Greetings, fellow life-travelers! I am trying out a monthly newsletter to offer us a diversion, a rest stop, a breather, and a moment to recenter ourselves on our way to the next thing we need to do. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Tim Loftus

Blog: The Open Question

On May 25, 2020, a few weeks after I started at Bay Path University in the MFA Creative Nonfiction program, I wrote this in my journal: One of my first assignments was to answer twenty questions about my “process.” The last question was what I hoped to get out of the course/program. I had no idea how to answer this, so I wrote “internal peace.” A few students commented that they liked that answer as did the teacher. And it was true. I want internal peace.


Further into that day’s journal entry, I wrote: If I do finish this degree, and there’s no reason why I shouldn’t, I will feel validated. I will have enhanced a core attribute of myself. That is the internal peace I want. I will be living for myself, not searching for the approval of others to accomplish this goal.

Monthly Mantra


Starting over is not failure. It is progress.


This is something you need to remind yourself every day.

Word Search


Be aware of the manifestation of this month's word in your travels this month.

Tsundoku is an unread pile of books you intend to read.


This Japanese slang word dates to the Meiji era (1868 to 1912). The word tsundoku does not have an English equivalent.

This Month's Photo

Just Because...

A photo from my file.

Hummingbird Moth

Second Helping

Blueberry Scones

It's more than just a recipe.

Nothing beats a warm scone right from the oven and a hot cup of tea.


Click the link below for full recipe.



Cottage of Stone


By Deb M*


There is a little cottage down by the sea

That serves warm scones and pots of tea


An old, tired cottage made of stone

That stands pridefully all alone


An elderly couple sit outside

She hands him a scone with jam and cream applied


He pours her tea from a teapot of vivid blue

As the morning sun wakes and lazily peeks through


A scruffy little dog wanders over to her seat

Plonks himself down on top of her feet


Happily, they sit at this little cottage made of stone

A cottage abundant with love and memories 

They call home!



*Printed with permission from the author.

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