I am a chopper of wood and carrier of water, a keeper of bees, digger of soil, and washer of dishes, but when people ask me "what do you do" I usually satisfy them with "I'm in information technology." If they really want to know, I'll tell them about the decade as a wilderness guide. Some jobs are vocations, some are avocations, but that one was an evocation. I also wrangle pixels and try to herd them into representations of coherent thoughts, which is a provocation. :-)
I was thinking about pruning our blueberries this morning. Whenever I look at that patch, grown to multiples of its original size, I think of my old friend, Merle, who gave me some of the first sprouts. Merle was in his late seventies when we met. He was possessed of a vigor which refused to … More What Box?
We all grieve differently, in our own way and in our own time. The process cannot be forced, or rushed, or altered by good intentions and unsolicited advice given us by well-wishers. In time, the sharp edges of grief are worn smooth, and sadness remains, but where grief cuts, sadness softens instead, and makes pliable … More The Quilt
Anyone who writes can tell you about the invisible wall of writer’s block that can appear between the first sentence of a composition and a deadline. It showed up for me this week like Bill Murray’s clock radio alarm in the movie “Groundhog Day.” Isn’t it true, that since the beginning of the “plague years,” … More The Invisible Wall
It is rare that I get to speak to you so close, and prior to the Christmas holiday. I’ll take this opportunity to wish you all a happy holiday season and thank you for your support and encouragement. Many thanks to my editor, Shawn, for her patience and good humor. Particular thanks to my wife, … More Putting the “X” Back in Christmas
I heard a baby crying in a foreign land this morning, and I’m feeling like a true global citizen. It was an unexpected pleasure. My insurance company, we’ll call them “Hugnem” for the purpose of this discussion, wasn’t getting any of my money. Funny, how a claim can take weeks to process but a “past … More Global Citizen
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” I was sure I heard a cricket the other night, but the creek carries on conversations after dark, so I filed the thought away under “the many sounds of water on rocks.” The next day a yellow butterfly circled our … More Butterflies in December
Tracey and I prefer the views and vistas earned by placing one boot in front of the other. The way our old old hickory tree wears the seasons surpasses almost any view through a windshield. Nevertheless, we ventured out recently to drive about the northern part of our state. This is one of my favorite … More Unexpected Beauty
Who doesn’t love a good campfire? This fascination with combustion is surely programmed into our DNA. Without it we should probably have died out long ago, overcome by those denizens of the animal kingdom that are faster, stronger, and wiser than we are. It was intelligence, not wisdom, that allowed humanity to wield fire in … More Be a Better Neighbor
Work is hard enough. Raising kids, caring for the elderly, eating right, sleeping well and staying fit, all require thought and energy beyond what we spend on the job. This has always been so, but we’ve never felt so tired. We thought our parents were too serious, but we worry more than they did and … More Lighten Up
It was our privilege recently to spend some time in the beautiful coastal plain of Georgia, where, “…somehow my soul seems suddenly free from the weighing of fate and the sad discussion of sin, by the length and the breadth and the sweep of the marshes of Glynn.” We took a meandering route far from … More Bathwater Barracuda
Outside The Box 