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Singers, Nesters and Friends
“Come with rain, O loud southwester!/ Bring the singer, bring the nester/” – Robert Frost, from his poem “To a Thawing Wind.” 3:30 pm, 35 degrees, stormy, small craft advisory for southerly gusts to 40 knots. Rough seas and whitecaps. Feels like snow (it is in the...
Sunday’s Thought
Whenever someone reveals the story of their life, that ground on which they’re standing is holy ground. That’s common ground. We’re human, and we’ve got a story. If I listen to yours and you to mine, we won’t agree on a whole lot, but we will understand each other,...
Lynx Eyes and a New Year
At about 11:30 on Boxing Day there was a loud crash. Chip was washing dishes and I was talking on the phone to my sister and we all thought Papa Bob had fallen upstairs until Chip yelled "chickens!"- A hen had flown into the window and the flock was cackling, crowing...
How the Light Gets In
The last sunrise of 2020 seems to be saying forgive me, be grateful. Have hope. Papa Bob is getting his Covid vaccine at noon today. Is that not perfect? I'm looking forward to a family Zoom tonight with my five children to ring out the old and ring in the new with a...
That Recipe and Title You Asked About
There is a rule when writing an obituary, or any news story really, not to raise more questions than you have answers for. I apologize for breaking it yesterday. (Albeit in a pretty benign way...but still.) To answer your questions: My favorite Christmas story is...
On The Fifth Day of Christmas
... I finally checked in. After writing the obituaries for Jenae and David and then Phil, I just wanted to retreat into a kind of close and holy silence, the kind that I can feel this Christmastide. The town is tender. I can't look at the wide, now white tongue of a...
So Much Light on the Darkest Morning of the Year
Sunday morning, on the darkest day of the year, we planned to sleep in, maybe even drink coffee in bed and listen to the radio and read. The sun (what little there is of it) wouldn't be up until about nine. The weather was miserable, rain and snow and wind. At about...