gratitude – Warren Bluhm

Siesta

Here I am, taking up pen and paper again after a long winter’s nap. The first part of the day, before I slept, felt like being in a haze, under water — but at the time it felt normal. Not until I woke up from the nap did I realize how clear my mind isContinue reading “Siesta”

Thank you, and Happy New Year

One of my regular stops in the morning rotation, Toirdhealbheach Beucail, devoted his New Year’s Eve blog post to thanking folks for visiting during the course of the year, which struck me as a lovely gesture and worth imitating. And so thank you, fellow traveler, for browsing past this website from time to time. IContinue reading “Thank you, and Happy New Year”

Because we are alive

Facebook reminds me every year that this is what I wrote toward the end of 2016. It’s always a nice reminder because it is always true, in this year — when we lost John Madden, Desmond Tutu, Phil Spector, Hank Aaron, Christopher Plummer, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Nesmith, Lloyd Price, Jim Steinman, Charles Grodin, Ned Beatty,Continue reading “Because we are alive”

Christmas wisdom from nephew Fred

“There are many things from which I might have derived good by which I have not profited, I dare say,” returned the nephew, “Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas-time, when it has come round — apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, ifContinue reading “Christmas wisdom from nephew Fred”

Christmas Eve

Mom would light candles and serve sugar cookies and magic bars, those fantastic concoctions of chocolate and coconut and graham cracker crumbs and sweet condensed milk, and Dad would break out the Bible and read the beginning of Luke 2. You know the story — from “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree thatContinue reading “Christmas Eve”

The short day

Back in June I wrote, “The most bearable part of winter is that the days start getting longer. The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year — sunrise around 7:30 a.m., sunset around 4:15 p.m. in this neck of the woods. As dark and as cold and snowy as it can be, theContinue reading “The short day”

My amazing discovery about where rabbit holes come from

I’ve recently noticed a new (to me) kind of annoying clickbait that seems to be designed to see how long you are willing to read about nothing before you find the bit of information you clicked to get — or give up in frustration. The headline might be, say, “What Paul McCartney really said whenContinue reading “My amazing discovery about where rabbit holes come from”