By the time I walk in this evening, the blackness of my dog to guide in waning light, I am abandoning myself to the smell of sweetened June shrubs, to deep listening, fine-tuned to crickets and frogs, to reliance on night-vision. No matter. The shadows and absence of color shift my eyes on discerning the path. Yet the … [Read more...] about In the Cool of the Day
An Afternoon Walk with Mary Oliver
I had a chance to walk 4 miles along McCormick Road this afternoon. I let Mary Oliver's questions in her poem "Gratitude" guide my observations. What did you notice? The joy of legs walking; the smell of tiny points of snow tossed in the air. What did you hear? The calling of barred owls and red-headed woodpeckers to their mates; the crackle of leaf litter as camouflaged … [Read more...] about An Afternoon Walk with Mary Oliver
I felt like a stranger tonight
I felt like a stranger tonight. I sat in the pews. It was the first time since 1982 that I had not "worked" on Christmas eve either as the church musician or as the pastor. I went to the Christmas eve service where my husband attends, and where I had attended many years ago with our children before God did the strange thing of calling me to serve in the Lutheran church. … [Read more...] about I felt like a stranger tonight
Witness to the Night Sky
The days and particularly their daylight hours have been full, so full in fact that I have done little writing this half year. Daylight is time for walking, running errands, meeting folks for coffee, moving books into my home study, yard work, visiting elderly parents. Meanwhile the northern hemisphere moves toward the shortest day of the year, so I make every daylight hour … [Read more...] about Witness to the Night Sky
Revisioning the Task
My village has become a bustling park today. Colorful kayaks and canoes are being carried into the Yellow Breeches for a day's floating adventure. Children hunt crayfish under rocks. Parents roast hot dogs. Black labs are swimming. A father explains to his son how the suspension construction of the pedestrian bridge works. Older folks sit together on benches under the … [Read more...] about Revisioning the Task