Blog
Christmas is Love
"God is light and in him there is no darkness at all." -1 John 1:5 It's Christmas Eve, dinner is smoked salmon fettuccine -- it's always the same, and just family (that means 17 of us tonight.) We have the extension set up and the tablecloths are ironed. Tomorrow will...
Off to the Spa.. Alaska Style
I'm on my way to Tenakee Springs, a tiny village on an island south of here, to see my friends Teresa and Larry, and meet with the Tenakee Springs book club. I have also packed flip-flops for the bath. That's the public bath house with a natural hot springs pool...
Obits and Preschools: Life Really is a Wheel
Bruce Weber, a long time New York Times obituary writer, said goodbye in a retirement column today with this observation that rings true even for my work in the much smaller Chilkat Valley News: "...obituary writing is important work. An obituary is, after all, the...
Sunday’s Thought
From Rilke's Book of Hours, shared with you after hearing it read on the radio this morning... I circle around God, around the primordial tower. I've been circling for thousands of years and I still don't know: am I a falcon, a storm, or a great song?
A Couple of Good Obituaries
I realize I might as well still be in Italy for all you have heard from me since I returned. I'm sorry. It's not personal. Rather, I have a house full of family and friends and it's been a tad crazy since I returned. Although I did sit down long enough to write two...
Sunday’s Thought
From E.B. White: "I belong to a small, unconventional school that believes that no rat poison is the correct amount to spread in the kitchen where children and puppies can get at it. I believe that no chemical waste is the correct amount to discharge into the fresh...
Ciao!
My favorite Italian scene took place at a public pool in Florence (it was 99 degrees and we decided to go were the locals do to beat the heat). It was crowded with young people mostly, and a few tourists, actually, maybe two tourists-us- . The life guards were...