Gather 'round…
It's 1am. I am supposed to be diving into my thirty-seven degree sleeping bag on the shores of Lake Superior after a mad midnight setup spree right about now. But instead I am pit-stopped on my couch, typing my way to bed. We can debate the sanity of the midnight arrival plan later. 45 minutes... Continue Reading →
Our basement is leaking. Record rainfalls combined with ten years of sunken backfilling around the house, and of course, our basement is leaking. I'm not so frustrated that the rugs are sopping, or that the fans and dehumidifiers have been erected in an obstacle course worthy of an olympic sport at the base of the stairs.... 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 →
The children are unhappy that they have to mow around one more thing in our vast and rambling yard. It is only two inches in diameter, but apparently it is still enough to warrant grumbling. The intruder has been on Scott's to-do list for months, years even. All winter long, for at least two winters,... Continue Reading →
There is a tent set up in my yard. It is raining. The rain fly is laid out on the ground next to the tent, and the tent is holding probably thirty-two gallons of water, the current rainfall doubling the volume already held when the tent was set up this morning. There are tarps strung... Continue Reading →
I staked up some peppers yesterday. There is a 'heat dome' hovering over the midwest, and this is precisely the time that I generally choose to twiddle in the garden. Because I make poor choices. It was approximately seventeen hundred degrees when I noticed that the garden was suffering from a bit of a wither,... Continue Reading →
As I sit here there are 9 Rubik's Cubes within my field of vision. Things have gotten out of hand. For the record, my personal best time for the 3x3x3 is 1:25. (there are also 3 timers nearby) I'm getting faster, but my kids are getting faster... faster. I am soon to be left in... 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 hour,... Continue Reading →
Three times it has snowed on the backs of the robins; Julio counted. Still, I'm not sure we're done with winter; the week ahead looks bleak. But today, after a week of bizarre blizzards and derechos, has been another wonderful respite from the cold, another taste of the coming spring. It is the Third Sunday... Continue Reading →
I thought he was a cardinal. You see, we have several male cardinals who love the tippy-topmost perch on our toothpick pine; it is the quintessential podium from which to preach and warble. If they danced, I am sure this would be where their moves would be displayed. The cardinals claim the pine more in the summer,... Continue Reading →
Last week, we were marveling - the kids and I - at our own dependence upon the stream of seasons we are so blessed to travel upon in Wisconsin. It was a sunny Wednesday evening, just crisp enough to confront any delusions of true spring, but plenty warm to awake in us that primal giving... Continue Reading →
The first greenery has erupted on our land. Many of our treefolk currently sport buds so swollen with springtime excitement that their seams are near to bursting, but they don't dare let go. Many more (the wise ones, I suspect), have abstained from sending their life force out to their tips in earnest, choosing rather... Continue Reading →
Tales From the Nexus 