Writing… Even When the Kitchen is Calling for Help
Trying to close in on finishing something like a first draft of my book in the next few weeks, I’m finding myself more aware than usual of the difference between writing and more quotidian matters. As he prepared to start his day the other morning, with the prospect of designing three different Easter weekend sermons on his mind, my husband said to me, “You may have noticed that the refrigerator door isn’t closing right.” What a guy. He … Read More
Fearful Symmetry? Not In Our House
Especially in a time when news headlines blare the word “Chaos!” to describe what’s going on in the White House, it’s comforting to know that we can still find soothing symmetry in our world. Sometimes we barely even have to look. Recently, I’ve been lucky enough to get a double dose right in my own bedroom. Raising your eyebrows? It’s OK, you can keep reading without blushing. My main business here will be something really reputable: the Bible. But first, … 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
Digging Those Blades Into The Ice, Sometimes Solo
It’s the New Year, so will it be the New You? Sounds like too tall an order, probably. A better bet will most likely be nourishing our own sense of at-home-ness within ourselves. Sure, we can and probably should do some minor repairs, address our flaws, try to meet a higher standard; but essentially, we’re stuck with our very own personhood. Can we think of new ways to flourish, sometimes depending on not another soul? It’s here that I’ll make … 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
Feeling For the Trees
Whenever I get tired of tracking my daily ups and downs, which is often, I find it refreshing to pay closer attention to the ups and downs of trees instead. Looking around outside with more vigor takes me out of my own limelight. It works well in November, or any other month for that matter. And that surprising storm we had last month sure did a number on many of our tall, usually very sturdy neighbors. It’s disconcerting when you … Read More
In the Heart of Fall, Be True to Your Harvest
“Why I am still getting these cross-country team emails from last year’s list?!” My annoyance is immediate, since, harrumph, we don’t have time for messages that don’t concern us. But then it melts away: just because my own son is no longer running at this school, has my devotion to the cause evaporated? Is my attention span so short that I can’t continue to be a fan? Am I so very clear on how best to keep shifting my attention … Read More
The Good Samaritan, In My Driveway
Amidst terrifying darkness, glimmering points of light feel like miracles. Once again we are reeling from a mass shooting; once again we search for answers; once again we keep going about our business, even as we know that many families are enduring what was, until a few days ago, unimaginable loss. News of the horrific event, and the ongoing aftermath, is full of questions that may never be answered about the mass murderer. But we have survivors’ stories and we … Read More
Skipping Fairbanks, Tending– maybe it’s Trending? — Home
A friend of mine recently brought her husband to the bus station to embark on a faraway trip. Then a friend of hers asked, “How did you feel about not going?” She replied, “I don’t know. ALASKA!’ You guessed right: that friend was actually yours truly. So I don’t really need to ask anybody else about my feelings; in truth, though, they’re a little hard to parse out. Fortunately, this remains a blog about contrasting elements lying side by side. That’s … Read More
My Ancestors on Nantucket: Quakers and Whale-Hunters Both?
I’ve just had a brush with some of my ancestors, and the experience has left me quaking in my sneakers. OK, that may be a bit of an exaggeration. I wasn’t exactly frightened…more stirred up, the way somebody on a turbulent ride might get. The questions I had before the meet-up have been partly answered, but now I have many more, plus a few contradictions that aren’t easily put to rest, as the ancestors themselves lie silent. Hearing that I … Read More