Today, which happens to be my birthday, might have dawned all white and poofy outdoors, but instead Mother Nature provided a pleasant surprise: Rare and gentle rain washing away leftover snow piles from ten days ago. A fine day to sit by the kitchen window with a hot cup of fragrant oolong tea, episodes from … Continue reading My father’s war memories, laid to rest
Animals and weather
Like many a descendant of farming families it is my habit to crack an eye open long before dawn to check the weather — online, in my case — before getting out of bed, and either make plans to arise soon or sleep another several hours, depending on the results. This morning my weather apps … Continue reading Animals and weather
The dog view of New Year’s Day
Day one of the year broke open quite drear, freezing fog, the look of a shiny glazed doughnut. Isn't it great that dogs aren't prone to shed tears over weather? We simply get busy with the human, so sleepy! We waggle and snuggle and march with no fear into the frozen back yard, jumping, … Continue reading The dog view of New Year’s Day
New Year’s Eve is for creating…
New Year’s Eve: In which I muse about a long awaited change of venue… If transformation is the norm, then spiritual transformation falls into place as an extension of where life has been going all along. While still remaining who you are, you can bring about a quantum leap in your awareness, and the sign that … Continue reading New Year’s Eve is for creating…
About those things you just can’t change
Sometimes I am especially un-eager for an occasion to end. Just once in a while along comes something or other to offer just that extra bit of time. But one can’t be particular about about the “something or other part”. There are few things in life that I enjoy less than heavy snow. Few things … Continue reading About those things you just can’t change
Collective action on behalf of the planet
Recently the Baha'i International Community released a statement to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. It's quite down to earth and emphasizes the role of collective human thought and action, how this is to be found and focused. Below I'll share a few excerpts. If you've been eager for something a little beyond … Continue reading Collective action on behalf of the planet
Polio Blogs 4: Little brother and gifts
You can only wobble around hospital corridors, showing off your new skills with leg braces by kicking your popular young doctor in front of his peers, for so long. Children’s Hospital discharged me just before I was due to start first grade, at the age of six. Oddly, I remember almost nothing about the event, … Continue reading Polio Blogs 4: Little brother and gifts
Enduring symbol. We Will Survive.
This past Saturday night’s activities included dealing with a busted rivet in one of my new leg braces. Though pain free, this particular event is best explained to the normal-legged public as being rather like having the tibia and fibula removed from action in the lower leg. You can’t walk. So out of the closet … Continue reading Enduring symbol. We Will Survive.
EL Capitan and me
Back in October I had a terrible dream, from which I awakened at dawn, shaking hard enough to rattle the bed. It took much of the day to recover, in fact. In it I was walking around in open desert with unseen people. Someone was saying that “When El Capitan pops up, if you see … Continue reading EL Capitan and me
Polio Blogs 3: She learns to walk again
The last blog in this series left my six-year-old self lying in an old hospital bed with chipped enamel railings, devouring two bowls of vanilla ice cream smothered in mustard. That bizarre meal — following a hunger strike — marked the end of my sullen rage at what paralytic polio had done to me. For … Continue reading Polio Blogs 3: She learns to walk again
Rising Over the Smoke 