Recent Posts
Night Sounds
Night Sounds Long after midnight I wake to the sounds Of the world carrying on In my absence. A siren pierces the darkness, Aroused by another’s adversity- A heart suddenly silent, A home embraced b... Read More
Milestones
Milestones Without realizing it, the years have slipped quickly by and suddenly, our quiet house is lit up with the noise and dearness of grandchildren. I watch them in wonder, each little face so uni... Read More
Along for the Ride
Along for the Ride The whole family piled into that station wagon. Big kids sat in the middle seat, little kids in the far back, facing the rear. I was one of the little kids, just along for the ride.... Read More
Ode To A Chair
Ode To A Chair The old metal chair sits in the backyard, Its back firm, Its arms magnanimously at its side. It weathers all the seasons, Patiently enduring snow and storms And oxidizing sun. Dirt and ... Read More
Expansion and Contraction
Expansion and Contraction In the beginning, I lived in a womb. That is how small my world once was. When I stretched that place to its limit, I was born. My world has been an expanding circle ever sin... Read More
I am still learning how to live
I am still learning how to live I live still learning how to live into the empty spaces, to sit within them quietly rather than fill them quickly just to keep anxiety and guilt at bay. I am still lear... Read More
Other People
Other People Of course, the big lessons came from family members, teachers, the major players in your life. But there were other, less obvious people, too. You know who they were- a neighbor whose kid... Read More
Rhythm of the Sea
Rhythm of the Sea It took a day and night to arrive in Ireland by plane. My spirit, however, lagged behind, gliding slowly over land and ocean. It was carried in by the tide to the Antrim Coast where ... Read More
Missed Connections
Missed Connections Real life is hard. We are busy, distracted, preoccupied. My words are insufficient, awkward. I say the wrong things or I don’t know what to say at all. We just keep missing connec... Read More
There is Beauty Everywhere
There is Beauty Everywhere Even the tattered tarp that covers the woodpile, battered as it is by the bitter wind, cups a puddle of rainwater in its folds, which it offers now, like a chalice, to the t... Read More
Note to a Young Parent
Note to a Young Parent Despite the vastness of your love, you, too, will undoubtedly encounter a particular brokenness in yourself so deep that you cannot traverse it, even for your children’s sake.... Read More
Pure Possibility
Pure Possibility I. When I was born, I was pure possibility, just a brand new body with a fresh brain, ready for connection. Those connections unlocked my potential but also narrowed it. They rooted m... Read More
Missed Boat
Missed Boat There was a time when I looked at other people’s expansive homes, their accomplishments, their travels, and I got the sense that we had somehow missed the boat. We hadn’t gotten news t... Read More
Introversion
Introversion When I am around a lot of people, there is a little scribe in my brain who insists on taking notes, processing every single interaction. He is very thorough and writes slowly with his tin... Read More
Quiet Waits For Me
Quiet Waits For Me Whether it be the leaf falling silently unseen, the heartbeat of a tiny bird, tucked beneath its wing, or the endless flow of the river far away, quiet is the constant backdrop of m... Read More