It was at a funeral that I first heard the legend of the cardinals, how when you see a cardinal it’s the spirit of a loved one who has passed, come to remind us they haven’t forgotten us, as we haven’t forgotten them. I have been prone to bouts of melancholy since we lost WillowContinue reading “The cardinal in the Willow tree”
Category Archives: gratitude
Three hundred
What is it about numbers? What makes this daily blog post any different from the 299 that came before? What makes us measure things? Why even track progress? What’s the point? What’s the point of any action? What’s the point of any habit? What’s the point of any life? Those questions interest me. But IContinue reading “Three hundred”
46 years in the making
It was a hot sunny day and my dad was proud but displeased that my college would give Bill Proxmire an honorary degree that commie and it was so hot in those black robes that somebody fainted and I don’t remember any specific words that were said except “onward.” And maybe nobody said “onward” butContinue reading “46 years in the making”
Happy Monday!
Here, at the beginning, at the onset, with a clean slate, with a blank page, a new week before us, and some of us, freshly graduated or newly hired or finally retired, starting the next stage of a lifetime, with the bloom of a new day, a new week, a new season, a new year,Continue reading “Happy Monday!”
We risk our lives
We risk our livesevery timewe connectin love. We risk our livesevery timewe connectin life. The depthof our loveis measuredby the depthof our loss. In the end, we find,the net gainin our livesis greater than the loss, andthat buoys usin our griefand we beginto heal.
Surprise underfoot
Now I know why Dejah has been acting so odd on the deck lately, snuffling and snurfing at the floor. A robin has built her nest on a crossbar underneath! Second pic is aimed between the cracks.
Gator belongs to Dejah, and what that means
Dejah seems to love her new Gator, and it occurred to me that this is her first toy that is just for her. All of her previous toys had to be shared with her older sister, Willow, who could be very possessive when she decided any new toy actually was hers. All of those otherContinue reading “Gator belongs to Dejah, and what that means”
It’s going to be all right
(originally posted Feb. 6, 2017) It’s going to be all right. Everyone seems to be so agitated. Every day in the news and social media and everywhere we turn, someone is barking out another reason to be alarmed or horrified or, at least, offended. We live in ridiculous times. But it’s going to be allContinue reading “It’s going to be all right”
Eagles fly like, well, eagles
I remember the first time I saw an eagle flying overhead at our retreat not far from the shores of Green Bay, a few years ago now. It was heart-stoppingly beautiful, that majestic bird fighting back against extinction and soaring along. Friday afternoon I sat down on the bench in Willow’s Field and looked upContinue reading “Eagles fly like, well, eagles”
It comes in waves
The dog up and died; he up and died —After 20 years he still grieves. I have always choked up a little bit when we get to that line in “Mr. Bojangles,” and I knew that after three-quarters of a lifetime, I had experienced the love of a dog as deep as that about JerryContinue reading “It comes in waves”
