It’s Hot Now; Frederick Douglass Was Fiery Then

Sometimes a merely middling writer knows when the time is right to defer to—get out of the way of — a Knock You Out Writer, the expert kind. That’s my plan for this blog. I’ll offer just a bit of preamble, context first. Here’s hoping you had a lovely 4th of July, free of heavy tanks rolling down your street. The weather around here sure has been magnificent, if on the hot side. This is when New England ponds and … Read More

Post Playoff Packing Up

Ah, the first half of June— time of fragrant blossoms, gentle breezes, lawns a-greening, birds a-twittering. And, depending on your perspective, either right in keeping with the burgeoning season or completely out of synch with it, the double whammy of TWO Best-of-7 Series (make that plural). Did you watch? I sure did. Having been steeped in athletic activity from a young age, I’m not about to change now. Yep, I’m a pastor’s wife, and proud to be. But when I … Read More

Signs of the Times, and Signs Just For Fun

On Election Day tomorrow, as you walk into your polling station, you’ll no doubt walk past an array of signs held by smiling individuals—likely some even your neighbors– who are eager to take every last minute for purposes of persuasion. Here’s to the power of the democratic system – with opinions clashing like so many cymbals all around us — and may it work fairly in all corners of our land throughout the day, with all voices heard and perhaps … Read More

On the Open Road

What with all this he-said-she-said stuff swirling around, maybe it will come as a relief to read something about not much more than the joy of charging down a highway in a convertible with the radio playing loud. After a church service, no less. My hair got all mussed up, but nobody minded.     It’s a little late, but this will also be my own personal offering to the Queen of Soul. I was in Philadelphia, not Detroit; riding … Read More

An Expansive View

“We were both right!” The girl I mentor, who is now a whopping 14, said this jubilantly as she got in my car a couple of weeks ago, heading to her hip-hop dance class.   I didn’t even know what she was referring to, but I loved what she said immediately. Turns out, I was right about the remaining cost of the 8th grade trip to Washington D.C. But, in a way, she was too, because a few days before … Read More

This Time of Year, We Go Hot and Cold

If, like mine, your heart gets pounding faster with a stark contrast, then you must have already noticed that we’re in a fire and ice time of year. First, the ice. Asserting itself in streams that persist in running, the trying-to-be-firm stuff is always valiant in seeking to overtake the water.         But anyone with a dog around here already knows that the coveted (by dogs, mostly) daily walks have gotten a bit challenging in the past … Read More

All At The Same Time

I wasn’t feeling particularly older until my son shouted to me today, while he was starting to pack for our two-day journey out to his new campus, “Mom, what did you take to college?” Well, let’s see….a typewriter, definitely a bunch of records and a turntable, turtlenecks for the long winter, somebody’s old wooden skis, and a yellow Schwinn bicycle. Naaah, it wasn’t that long ago. But here we are: my third child is about to be on his own, … Read More

Different Beaches, Different Times, Different Lives

I’m knocking on the door of a significant birthday, so I’m going to gather my wits and make a modest proclamation. Just when you think you’ve got a few facts down, can recognize a thing or two with certainty, absolutely know how to define particular words…something will probably happen that will cause you to re-shuffle the deck. Not that I put myself in the camp of people playing with a full one or anything. But I venture to say that, … Read More

He’s Two Hundred and Not In A Hurry

Do you have a full plate of activities today, a long to-do list? Are you focused on accomplishments? Then this guy’s approach to life might seem a bit odd:   I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least—and it is commonly more than that—sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements.   This proud wanderer just turned 200 a week ago; … Read More

His River, My Canal

The past week has demonstrated for me, as if I didn’t already know, that life can be all about natural flow, heading downriver freely and perhaps in tune with a larger power; or it can be about getting through a bunch of sometimes momentarily jarring locks on a canal that will, you hope, take you where you want to go: open water. Sure, it’s possible to imagine life without waterways at all – being firmly planted without any forward movement … Read More

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