One of my earliest memories is a visit to my grandparents’ house east of Hiawassee in winter. The potbellied stove warmed the house with a heat that no other technology would ever match, and the world outside the frosty window was a wilderness of bobcats and bears and stories that have slipped into the dreamtime … More Narrenbeschwörung
“The order of love is that by which the right measure of affection is expressed in what is loved.” -St. Augustine When Vice President J.D. Vance invoked the medieval Catholic phrase in response to criticism of the current Administration’s immigration policy, I confess that I had to look it up to resurrect memories of a … More Ordo Amoris
By the time you read this, it’s just possible that the massive block of ice created by shoveling snow from our walkway will have melted. I’m not taking any bets. Our personal glacier has been here for two weeks so far. The rain didn’t melt it. It remained defiant during those two hours when the … More Fun With Frozen Things
It is a balmy 24 degrees here as Peaches settles in to warm my toes, and hers as well. There is still plenty of snow on the ground, if you can call it “snow.” It looks like snow, but it’s as hard as rock, deceptively beautiful and treacherous, like that girl I dated in college. … More Enjoy The Weather
It was 9.5 degrees this morning, and even our meticulous canine researchers made a quick study of their morning business. The birds were not shy, urging me loudly to hurry up and restock the suet feeder, and like any guy who got clothes instead of toys for Christmas, I might have grumbled then, but I’m … More After the Decimal Point
The forsythia bush by the driveway, the hopeful one that regularly sends out a few exploratory blossoms in December just to see, may finally be convinced that winter has arrived. We suspected as much. The hum of the electric meter has developed a tone that unconsciously stimulates my hand to reach protectively for my wallet. … More No Matter How You Slice It
Tracey and I treat ourselves to some really fine hot chocolate this time of year. It’s the good stuff, not the hydrogenated high fructose off-the-shelf alkali powder. We melt and stir and wait, and simply ignore the list of ingredients on the package of marshmallows. Christmas is a bit like dark chocolate. The fellowship and … More Like Dark Chocolate
We have strange ways of marking time, and I’ve long believed that we might do better. For example, we begin the year in the middle of winter. January 1st is not linked to any terrestrial or sidereal event such as a solstice or alignment of the stars. It’s an arbitrary assignment linked to Julius Caesar … More The Wrong Side of History
“You’re just being contrary,” a friend once remarked. “I disagree,” was my immediate reply. Maybe it’s the weather. I’m standing on the back porch waiting for Peaches, who just chased a squirrel into the laurel thicket, to finish conducting her morning business, and it’s so cold that my coffee is starting to ice over in … More Au Contraire
A few short years ago, when relentless time was beginning to overtake my parents, and the empty chairs around our Thanksgiving table were already noticeable, there came the very last family gathering when all my mother’s children sat down for a meal together under her roof. We didn’t know it was the last. One rarely … More The Cranberry Salad
Outside The Box 