Gather 'round…
I set aside fiction for Lent this year, intent upon digesting more spiritual reading in it's place. It's not such a great sacrifice, really; I wasn't in the fiction mood before Lent anyway. But you know when putting forth any measure of spiritual effort, even the most inane fiction on the shelves is suddenly very tempting.... 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 →
Spring has sprung. I have a feeling we're still in for some more cold days here in northern Wisconsin, but for today we are reveling in the newness of the sun and warmth. I've been upright all day, by the way. Pretty exciting stuff, given my past 8 days spent horizontal. I. Will. Take. It.... Continue Reading →
I threw my back into some kind of ill-mannered, all-encompassing, driven-by-the-hounds-of-hell spasm the other day. So here I am, sitting on my couch for the 5 minutes allotted to me before I'll have to lie down again, staring out the window at this glorious spring day. There is a comically stinky dog licking himself at... Continue Reading →
I can’t seem go too many months without a Cast Light reblog; apparently it’s that time. Always with the perfect words. Always at the perfect time. Thank you, Cast Light.
“May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.”
– An Old Irish Blessing
When the road is uncertain, the wind is in your face, the clouds hide the sun and the storms are strong, may we know, trust and believe that we remain in the palm of His hand, held even closer.
Be the road that guides the lost, the shield that blocks the wind, the light that radiates warmth and the midst that quenches a thirst.
Just around the corner of patience and faith, the road rises, the wind subsides, the sun awaits and the symphony of soft rain quiets the soul.
No matter if lost or found, the truth remains. We…
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And just to prove I'm not a total poetry grinch... Over at Consciousness creates reality, fellow-blogger pseudonymous churns out quite a bit of it. Here's my favorite: Los Padres Five thirty AM a car drives by the camp site full of chanting monks ~pseudonymous This interrupted morning on the land reminds me of one of our own, on the... Continue Reading →
Language. It is intrinsically valuable and, used correctly, purely beautiful. Words have the power to break and the power to heal. My tongue, as James says, ... is a fire... [it] sets on fire the course of history. ~ James 3:6-10 How much more powerful is the written word? Easier to tame, yes, but just... Continue Reading →
They're singing again. A January thaw is upon us, and the birds of the homestead are ecstatic. My eyes snapped open this morning as an unknown avian friend warbled out her morning greetings. Shamefully, I can't connect her voice with her face in my jumbled-up brain, and sadly, my rusty echolocation, struggling to revive from... Continue Reading →
I'm nearing the end of my novel. This is exciting stuff, even if a wee bit terrifying. As I approach the final stages of my story, I'm finding myself writing very, very slowly. Interesting, since I am convinced that the my mission for the end is to drive the pace faster and faster. To throw... Continue Reading →
Tales From the Nexus 