Gather 'round…
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce My rating: 5 of 5 stars If it is possible, Queenie's story is even more compelling than Harold's. This is a beautiful book. Harold's story, from The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, is told here from the perspective of the woman he is walking to... Continue Reading →
Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry My rating: 5 of 5 stars Confession: I've never read any Wendell Berry. So when I say I've been reading Wendell Berry, it strikes me as a very lofty thing to say. A dear friend called Jayber Crow the best book she's ever read. Another dear friend, upon hearing that... Continue Reading →
If any man be devout and love God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord. If any have labored long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense. If any have wrought from the first... Continue Reading →
I feel a latecomer to Lent this year. The 11th hour worker. I've been Orthodox for fifteen years this year. This is my fifteenth Lent. And somehow every one is still different. I don't know that I truly came late to the Lenten spirit this year, but the differences were not subtle, and it didn't... Continue Reading →
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce My rating: 5 of 5 stars Excellent Lenten reading, actually... I recently took up my priest's annual challenge to take a word into your heart for the year. Any word that gets you closer to The Word. Give. Or Love. Maybe Suffer. Then keep it close... Continue Reading →
That retreat, that last post about the seedlings needing tending, they both ushered in something I've never previously managed. Something I've never really even tried. Not for fear. Well, maybe a little for fear. But mostly because I have some very specific priorities, and while writing ranks pretty high on the list, it does not... Continue Reading →
How to Be Good by Nick Hornby My rating: 4 of 5 stars Huh. I'm not sure what to say about this one. I heard about it somewhere, maybe in a writing book, so I picked it up. Turns out it is from the same author as About a Boy and High Fidelity so I... Continue Reading →
A tiny/huge victory yesterday on the front of the Dakota Access Pipeline standoff, though the battle is far from over. The Army Department put a halt to the project in their decision for further environmental impact studies. No promises, but a step in the right direction. And a monumental shift in the generally accepted paradigm... Continue Reading →
I've been wondering why it is that flashes of brilliance - or at least flashes of our best selves - manifest themselves while we're in no position to act on them. Creative juices, spiritual prods, humanitarian urges. They all arrive when we are somehow incapacitated. I'm sure I'm not alone. You are resolved (and possibly... Continue Reading →
A little follow up on yesterday's post... It took me a while to find it, as the much-coveted book has already been surrendered to the library, but I thought it worth reposting Mike Perry's closing essay from Roughneck Grace. Kind of sums up those times around the fire, no matter how they're spent. A bit... Continue Reading →
Fall is arriving, on the backs of the wind, breaking through the sunlight and scattering it more and more every day. The cool is exhilarating. The dry is refreshing. The breeze and the crispness of the evening make me pine for the North Shore. How is it that such a place can become so precious?... Continue Reading →
I picked some ragweed today. All along the driveway. Species Ambrosia confertiflora, the carpet that greens up the roadside, masquerading as some pretty little tea leaf. I picked some ragweed yesterday, too. Same little tea leaf. And I pulled some serious ragweed this weekend. Ambrosia trifida, the giant stuff as tall as me that has... Continue Reading →
Tales From the Nexus 