Gather 'round…
Work the brain before working the mouth. I've taught my kids this from the beginning, with varying degrees of success on the familial foot-in-mouth-count chart. Because the things that can come out of a mouth that has not tethered itself firmly to the brain can be embarrassing at best, and often hurtful to those you... Continue Reading →
A heavy sheet of frost cloaked the ditch clover this morning. You could almost see those little alfalfa cells bursting at the strain, transforming from lusty stalks to creamed spinach beneath the blanket of white. Look past the beauty of the lace and arctic destruction, though, and one sees something more. The clover—the whole populace... Continue Reading →
I missed it. I feel like Annie Dillard missing the very moment of the happening of spring, despite her diligence. Only I've missed the very moment of the happening of fall. I knew it would happen. That whole abandoning ship at peak thing ensured I'd be derailed. And I was. For months, I've been taking... Continue Reading →
As I've said, I'm scrapbooking again. As I've said. But what I set out to write a few weeks back was not a diatribe on the virtues of skimpy scrapbooking. It was not meant to be only a physical confession of a swept-away hobbyist. It was intended to reflect upon the growing need within to... Continue Reading →
The seasons are turning fast now. The blue is growing deeper and the colors are falling off the landscape. We often miss the peak of the beauty, enjoying the magic of Lake Superior at the very time of year that the show back home is at it's finest. Circumstances and all that. Circumstances this year,... Continue Reading →
I have been scrapbooking again. It's a bit of a wagon-worthy confession. There is a short and shunted period of my personal history when I was a scrapbooker. I scrapbooked. I sold scrapbooks. Mostly, I spent unholy sums of money on gourmet scrapbooks and all manner of scrapbooking paraphernalia. Markers. Stickers. Cut-outs. Paper; O Lord,... Continue Reading →
Winterdance Gary Paulsen My Goodreads rating: 5/5 Stars Oh, Gary Paulsen is a gem. I laughed so hard. It took me back a handful of years to the several times I read Paulsen's Harris and Me to my kiddos. Rip-snortin' funny. And wonderful. Paulsen regales with stories of his journey to and through the Iditarod, and doesn't... Continue Reading →
The Cross. The instrument of torture made salvation. The very wood which Christ submitted to as He trampled down death by death. Today in the Church we celebrate the Exaltation of the Cross. Hail, O Cross of the Lord Through you, mankind has been delivered from the curse Shattering the enemy by your exaltation O... Continue Reading →
The School of Essential Ingredients Erica Bauermeister My Goodreads rating: 3/5 stars Well, I dunno. I was reading along, and I will definitely admit Essential Ingredients made me hungry, but about midway through all I could think of was: Where is the plot? I was growing increasingly suspicious that I was stuck in a book... Continue Reading →
Huh. Just found this in my drafts folder from a couple months back. Guess I never hit Publish. Cheers... Nat Goldberg. There are few writers that I count on to bring me out of a rut every time. Why she is one of them, I don't even know, but she is indeed that buoy that brings... Continue Reading →
Today, just a week into the Church New Year, is the Nativity of the Theotokos. It's the birthday celebration of the Virgin Mary, the very Mother of God. For the first decade of my vocation as a Christian I ran in distinctly Protestant circles. Many, many circles. I ran a pretty thorough gamut, though I... Continue Reading →
Our garden hasn't looked this pitiful in years, but there is something beautiful that calls to me. Something more natural and wild and free than we've allowed before. This year's plantings were haphazard; this is an understatement. We weren't sure of how much to plant, for the surgery was coming, and let's face it… no... Continue Reading →
Tales From the Nexus 