Almost Easter

A good friend of mine, way out in the Pacific Northwest, said something like this on the phone last night: “Sometimes it feels more right to say, ‘Here we are!’ than ‘Here we go!’ ” I think her point was that it can startle us to recognize that we’re actually in a time that we might have preferred to think would remain in our future. Or, said otherwise, we may not want to see ourselves as old, but we’re damn … Read More

Starting the New Year with Pelicans

Not intending any offense to Granite Staters, I must say that New Hampshire has never, in the almost-a-decade since I’ve lived here, looked so grey (and I don’t mean the average age of residents, although that’s probably true, too) as it did this past week. Heading to school one morning, I saw one edge of Turkey Pond looking like this. It’s peaceful enough in its drabness, and there’s nothing whatsoever wrong with New England being dressed in leaden skies in … Read More

Over the Hill, and Maybe Over-the-Hill, Too

What’s “old” to you? How distinct is the difference between someone in this category and someone on the next rung down, say, “approaching old”? My mother preferred the word “elderly” to describe most anyone over the age of 80 — and the great-aunts and uncles were close by. The word had a gentler sound to her, I think. And then she herself arrived there, a fact which must mean that I’m soon to follow. This, we learn, is how life … Read More

The Lawn Looks Lenten, But Easter Will Come

How many words do you know that have one “u” right after the other? And if you do know one, do you also know how to pronounce it? My husband, who regularly passes along interesting tidbits of knowledge to me, taught me the term “Easter Triduum” just the other day, when he was pondering the plethora of sermons he needed to present over the three days we’re in right now. Needless to say, Easter itself has come around plenty of … Read More

One Color Goes A Long Way

I’ve still not seen Orange is the New Black, and it probably would take a whole column just to digest the meaning of that title, let alone the impact of the show. But what I know for sure is that, every time autumn settles in, I’m conscious of how much just one color can express, all along the continuum between life and death. Nature does this alone, very nicely. Toss in some memories, and the path lights up even more, … Read More

A Place for Lace

Sometimes choices are crystal clear; just as often, though, they’re not, and you just take the plunge. It’s a good time of year to use that word, because in midsummer, leaps into even murky bodies of water are rarely regretted.     When the optometrist slides those different lenses into the machine and asks you, “Is this one better, or this?” usually it’s easy to say. And even a pleasure, because you anticipate that your choice will result in better … Read More

Ideas About God, and Plain Old Work Too

Just as I enter into a lovely time of not working, I see examples of work everywhere. It must be a sign that this vacation can’t last long. Since I’m not accompanying my husband to the 10-day long, give or take a few hours, Episcopal Convention in Texas, but will be partly with him in spirit, I thought it would be a good time to pull out a book by Karen Armstrong that’s been on my shelf for a while. … Read More

Both Done and Not Done

In the kitchen, you can usually be quite sure if something is “done” or “not yet done” or “raw.” In the rest of life, though, telling whether something is where it needs to be, at a jumping off point or place of readiness and fruition, often gets a little more complex. A bit like a cook reaching for a favorite spice, my mother had a way of latching on to particular words and using them over and over, emphatically — … 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

Seeking Texture on the Page, Finding it Everywhere Outdoors

With the floods in Houston at Biblical proportions, it feels almost flagrantly disrespectful to go on enjoying the glorious weather we have had at this end of August in New England. But we are watching and listening and, as this evening’s news reports from Boston show, finding ways to help from a distance. May the patience of people waiting to be rescued be rewarded with their safe transitions to places providing comfort. And may Louisiana be spared a repeat of … Read More

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