I live and write on Lingít Aaní, and gratefully acknowledge the past, present and future caretakers of this beautiful place, the Jilkaat Kwaan and Jilkoot Kwaan.
“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...
“Perhaps knowing that you are enough for one person goes a long way.” – In Fredrik Backman’s new novel, My Friends. (He also wrote A Man Called Ove and My Grandmother Asked me to Tell You She’s Sorry– and more.) I did not want to go out into the cold gale of a...
“It is good just to sit quietly in that place of loss and sadness, and let the feelings be feelings.”—Jeanette Winterson in Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days. I’m half in the middle of unpacking from Tenakee, sorting mail, catching up on...
“Sometimes things don’t go, after all, From bad to worse.” – Sheenagh Pugh The ferry docked close to midnight after a ride that could have been worse, considering the northerly gusts to 65 knots, heavy freezing spray and seas to twelve feet. I took Dramamine...
“See how everything we have made gathers the light inside itself and overflows. A blessing.–Stuart Kestenbaum in his poem Holding the Light in The Wonder of Small Things: Poems of Peace and Renewal edited by James Crewes. The power went out in Juneau...
“Seeing the goodness in someone does not imply ignoring their difficult qualities or unskillful actions. Rather we can fully acknowledge these difficulties while at the same time we choose to focus on the positive.”—Sharon Salzberg in Loving Kindness And, I...