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Joy is not made to be a crumb.- Mary Oliver Hi, I have been thinking of you. I have been in Tenakee for most of March, shoveling snow! So much snow, every day, and working on and on off on a couple of projects, a how-to write an obituary book, a collection of essays,...
Advent Thought (s) Dec. 17 Ring the Bells
"Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering, there is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."-- Leonard Cohen from his song Anthem. Beth and I rang the bell for the Salvation Army’s Christmas donation kettle at Olerud's...
Advent Thought Dec. 16, We Will Rock You
Leaving the grocery store, a young man carried my bags out to the car in shirt sleeves. The wind scoured Main Street. I was wrapped in down and wool—“I can make two trips,” I said, “you will get frostbite.” He said he doesn’t feel the cold, and as we walked to my car,...
Advent Thought (s) Dec. 15 Joy, joy, joy!
“This is my true religion: arbitrary moments of nearly painful happiness for a life I feel privileged to lead.” – Elizabeth Berg in her novel, The Art of Mending After the Holly Jolly Follies, as I braced myself out on the porch of the Chilkat Center for the walk up...
Dec 14 Advent Thought(s) Where Your Heart Is
“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”- Mathew 6:21 When I was earning an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Alaska , Anchorage our first get-know-you assignment was to write about the place you loved most in all the world. The...
Advent Thought(s) Dec. 13, Lord Have Mercy
"The give and take of it all, my muddled pride."-- Jessica Gigot in her poem, "Amends." The highest and best use of my time is not baking. I did a lot of it the past two days. But, as we all know, or at least I do, the quickest way to a better mood is to spend a...
Advent Thought Dec. 12 – Help Angels be Useful
“Even the sun, on earth beneath, turns in space like a gold wreath.” – Paul Engle, from his poem “The Wreath” in A Christmas Feast: Poems, Sayings, Greetings and Wishes. Compiled by Edna Barth On our walk this morning down River Road and more out of the wind than the...