I didn’t know where I was, but I was standing on a vast plain beneath a leaden sky. The ground was hard and the grass was dead. The light, dim and dreary, revealed no colors except the everlasting gray. The air was stale and hot and barely breathable. There was no sound, either of birds or insects or wind. There was no evidence of life—somehow I knew there was none. Life, with all its richness of color and sound and […]
Hope in the Desert Continue Reading »
The third advent candle is the “joy” candle. But, what is joy? Most of us equate the word with “happiness,” except that it’s happiness on steroids, a”delight”, an “exhilaration”, an “exultation” even. Happiness is all about earthly satisfaction, but joy, which may arise from terrestrial circumstances, also contains an element of the sublime. There is no better illustration of this than the joyful meeting between the Bethlehem shepherds and the angels: In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in
A Visitation of Joy Continue Reading »
The nativity set I purchased for my grandchildren has a border collie in it- not a Roman drover dog, not a Canaan dog- a border collie! And the Scottish canine isn’t the only mistake. The smiling camel, which presumably carried the three tubby wise men, shouldn’t have showed up until much later; the angel on the roof is nowhere mentioned in scripture ; and- a PIG! Apparently, these Jews didn’t keep kosher. Whether or not the designer of the nativity set knows
Jesus and the Border Collie Continue Reading »
My freshly mowed lawn looked like a bald head fringed with straggly green hairs, and I spent two hours pulling, poisoning, and whacking weeds. I quit when the weed-trimmer ran out of cord, and hobbled inside, collapsing on the couch, naively hoping to take a nap. But of course, tout de suite, bored grandchildren arrived with a request. They wanted to explore the under-stair storage space. Although there is nothing special about that spot, the entrance is covered by bookcases
Something Better Continue Reading »
Last month we celebrated Chinese New Year: 2017, the year of the rooster. Needless to say, with my Irish/Italian heritage, it was a first for me. St. Patrick’s Day —sure. Columbus Day—sometimes. But Chinese New Year! Blame it on my affection for Asian cuisine, my lovely daughter-in-law, and a desperate need for color during a hard, dreary winter month. Chinese recipes are notorious for including a list of esoteric ingredients as long as your arm, and the prep time is e-tern-al: chopping,
Celebration in Chaos Continue Reading »
In the sixties, staying in from lunch recess was a punishment and disgrace. For in that hour, we were free as the breeze to wander in a grassy field punctuated by mature trees and honeysuckle bushes where a wood and steel, low-tech playground offered manifold delights. Teachers didn’t organize games for you back then; they just heaved a relieved sigh and cut you loose to play. Recess meant the freedom to mull over problems, whoop and holler with friends, or
Staying in at Recess Continue Reading »
It was time to upgrade my lab experiment on light, so a friend of mine sent me some ideas— most of which exceeded both my cognitive and competency levels. For example, she sent me this: ” You can do a diffraction demo using a rectangular glass pyrex dish. If you touch the edge of a 12″ ruler to the surface of water with regular frequency, you get a series of waves in lines. If you then add a pin hole
The Periscope Problem Continue Reading »
It was the fall of 1971, and three friends left Birmingham to attend Auburn University. Our parents drove us because we didn’t have cars. I didn’t even have a driver’s license. Two of us ended up lodging in the oldest dorm on campus— the kind with community bathrooms and cold showers. The third amiga got lucky and landed a spot in a newer dorm with larger hot water heaters and. . . air conditioning! While Jenny and I sweated in front of
The Greatest of These Continue Reading »
Has it really been four years since Jon died? It feels—not like yesterday—but like half an hour ago. There he is pulling Cessna six niner eight zero x-ray out of the West Point hangar, sitting at the soundboard with headphones on, tossing haybales up to the barn loft, riding the John Deere, playing fetch with his Labs, studying I Peter, singing at the piano. . . I can still see his eyes crinkle when he laughs, feel his rib-cracking, flannel-shirted bear hug,
The Domino Effect Continue Reading »
I am not an adventurous person. Like Bilbo Baggins, I appreciate a solitary fireside and cup of tea, and I avoid what is unfamiliar. When it comes to teaching little children however, I morph into a Ranger from the North. A topic presents itself; my eyes glaze over; and I begin to scan the horizon of youtube videos for exciting science experiments. My stated goal is to teach them this or that. My secret goal is to make creation exploration a
The Poinsettia Project Continue Reading »
I belong to the church of the physically fit. Members do marathon mudders. They sprint up stairs. They are at peace with their lean to fat ratio because they have nothing to put in the denominator. They run. They jump. They bench press twice their weight. And they look good in spandex. In my day, spandex was tights which, unless they were anchored in place by a leotard, succumbed to gravity pretty quickly. School girls suffered until bathroom breaks allowed
Spirituality and Spandex Continue Reading »
It’s November. Leaves are falling, skies are gray, and my son-in-law has been here visiting the deer. While he’s with us, I never need an alarm clock. I wake up abruptly just before dawn, smelling coffee and hearing the front door click shut. The hunter exits like a ghost, neither waking his brothers-in-law nor the four dogs. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that our pony ignores him as he threads his way through the barn, down the gulley,
Hunting for Thanksgiving Continue Reading »
