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Cops and Rabbits
"There is joy in all"-- from Welcome Morning, a poem by Anne Sexton. First let's get our bearings: 6:10 am. Light. It's raining, lightly, not much wind, the buds are greening, so is the seaweed and the grass. The tide is out and the river flats are full of ducks,...
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...
It’s.. How Many Days ‘Til Christmas?
The other day a friend said, "we lost two weeks" she meant work, normal life, plans- and for some in Haines, everything. Jenae and David. Phil. Johnnie, and Hal now. And homes ( I think there are nine gone for sure, and maybe a few more that aren't going to be lived...
Candles and Obituaries
It's Advent, and almost Christmas time, and we always put up the tree following the annual holiday parade. I didn't much feel like it, but Chip kind of suprised me and insisted, gently, on it. He cut a tree, then put it up, and then he asked if I knew where the lights...
The Stars are out in Haines
The news from here in Haines is that the ground is drying out and life is returning to the new normal. School is open and the holiday parade scheduled for Saturday afternoon, Snow Dragon and all—is on, along with a candlelight vigil, prayers, and a few hymns down at...