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For everything there is a season…
Every beginning has an ending and every ending has a beginning. At the beginning of this blog, I was a faithful writer penning short blog every other week for nine years. Some pieces were better than others, but all were given a quick edit by my dear friend, Sally. She was the first reader and she encouraged me to keep writing even when I didn’t find many readers. She liked the short pieces and the photographs that accompanied them. This accompanying photograph is not mine. It is a photograph of Virginia Woolf’s writing desk. I studied the works of Virginia Woolf and wrote my M.A. thesis at Brown University. What…
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Entrust your pain to the community
A few months ago, I read this essay called: “Two Lessons learned from this Ancient Piece that Changed My Life” written by Sharon Brous who is a Rabbi. This is an excerpt from The New York Times. “A somewhat obscure text called the Mishnah, which is a very old Jewish legal document has been my unlikely teacher and guide for the past many years, and my north star. The Mishnah gave hope to all in need as they circled the Temple of Jerusalem. For those in pain, they would turn to the left and the ones giving care and compassion would turn to the right. They would meet in the…
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Life changes in the instant.
Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends. The question of self-pity. by Joan Didion, “The Year of Magical Thinking.” I am still asking myself– even after almost a year since Sally died–why we never talk about death until it is in front of us. I think some of the truth lies in Joan’s short phrase–uncertainty, fear and perhaps not wanting self-pity. We have no idea when our time is and we are afraid to talk to others about what it looks like when we experience it closely. You can sit with a dying friend the whole day…
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I shall not cease from exploration
7 years ago I began this blog. I first started writing pieces while living in Brooklyn. I worked with a web designer who taught me how to put everything together. During this time, Gregory, my son, moved to his own apartment in Brooklyn. Soon both Sally and I retired. She moved to Cincinnati. I moved to Asbury Park. It was both exciting and sad. But once Sally and I moved, we talked everyday. It was our way of keeping the connection and the friendship. My intention for writing was to find a story with emotional resonance for me and write about it. Then I would marry this short piece with…
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An Olive Tree grows in New Jersey
Have you ever watched something die and then come back to life again? It does often happen in nature when we see. My niece gave me a small, beautiful, olive tree as a gift and it flourished for a while. At some point the moisture and gloomy weather of New Jersey was too much. It died. I never thought it would grow again. After living outside in its beautiful olive pot, I was ready to plant a perennial in the pot. I looked closer. There in the center of the pot between two large round-shaped stones was a small olive bud. It has been outside in the cold and wet…
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A Season for Everything…
Thinking back to last winter, I remember chasing two great blue herons everyday. They waded in the water, and skated on thin ice. Each day I was happy to go outside at the warmest part of the day to discover what new trick they had created. This year is different. There is only one heron and when I do get out between the cold and the rain, I can’t find him. What has changed? If we begin to follow birds and animals carefully, we will see that they have a vital life of their own. They are not the same every day. Jane Goodall said this and she has lived…
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“Hope is the thing with feathers”
“Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all – And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard – And sore must be the storm – That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm – I’ve heard it in the chillest land – And on the strangest Sea – Yet – never – in Extremity, It asked a crumb – of me. Emily DIckinson How can we find hope amid uncertainty, conflict, or loss? Hope develops and cultivates in the same manner as faith. It is a state…
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Sally, forever friends
Sally Hamilton, May 4, 1944 – June 26, 2022 Standing erect, Sally always moved confidently through life. She was educated and successful, and generous to others. Each person received the benefit of her kindness. She was fiercely independent, walking by herself for the first day of school while her mother followed secretly behind. We travelled together on some beautiful trips. A few notable differences arose in our lifestyles. I woke early and she slept late. The best trip was a seven-day “forced march,” as we called it, to Rome, Tuscany, Florence, and Venice. We had guides meeting us every morning after breakfast to take us to the Coliseum, the Vatican,…
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Winter’s Gone
Winter may not be your favorite season, but finding a way to enter into it makes it a lot better. Kids love winter. They find ways to play in the snow. Aubrey (the female heron) and her male friend have kept me busy this winter following them as they sat out migration to stay here and live in cold rain, ice and snow. They challenged me to find answers to why they can live with their feet in the cold water of a lake and why they spend so much time fishing. As for the legs–it turns out they have a separate circulation system in their legs which moves independently…
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The Exodus
What country would you like to go to? Austria, Germany, Italy? These are the words spoken to the Ukrainian people as they depart their buses and trains. They are in Poland. Poland and Romania already have close to a million refugees. “Vienna” says the beautiful woman with two children. The son looks to be 14 or more and is sweet talking about how much he misses his father. “I love my father” he says. The smaller girl around 5 whose name is Zalotta smiles and jumps up and down. She is a young free spirit and seems to like change. All of the mothers say they are fleeing Ukraine to…
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What gives me hope?
For now I am spending part of my day observing birds and most particularly herons. Why this sudden love for herons and one specifically? What is the purpose of spending so much time watching her? First of all, I would say we watch to learn. I am not trained in the study of birds (ornithology) and I don’t want to google everything. So I return again and again to see the bird and watch what and why she is doing what she is doing. Jane Goodall is one of my favorite writers and speakers. When you listen to what she says about chimpanzees and nature you hear hope and positivity.…
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Carrying My Grandmother
There was a time in my life when I dreamt a lot. I would awaken with the dream fresh in my head. Methodically, I would write it down in one of my journals. From time to time I dip into the pages of earlier journals to catch glimpses of my past life. However, I rarely think they are as interesting as I did as when I wrote them. But there are a few gems, such as the year 1990, when I gave birth to Gregory. Tuesday morning, January 25th at 4:00am I awoke to the memory of a dream–so real I was living it–about my paternal Grandmother. She was very…
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Gratitude
Oliver Sacks was a neurologist, naturalist and prolific writer. Facing the end of his life, a few years ago he wrote about his love for life and his gratitude for living. It is this sentiment that I wish to end this calendar year and begin a new one. He writes: “My predominant feeling is one of gratitude. Love has been received and love has been given. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.” Deleted: –Oliver Sacks “Gratitude” I agree with Sacks in that I feel enormous gratitude even in this past…
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Vespers
In the past few months I have added two positive events to my life. The first is a late afternoon walk which takes me to a beautiful nearby lake. The second is Zoom Evening Prayer from the Church of the Ascension in New York City. It starts with an opening prayer for forgiveness. The lectionary leads us through a Psalm or two, followed by readings from the Old Testament and New Testaments. The readings are not always easy. Led by each Priest we get the context and a better grasp of the meanings. There are also prayers the needs of particular people and the world. Both the walk and the…
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Becoming
Advent began last Sunday and for me it is a time of preparation and hope. It is both joyful and reflective. My thinking in life has always centered around becoming. What am I waiting for and hoping to become? For me becoming is always in process– looking out to see what one never saw before. A reminder from the Church of Ascension newsletter: “I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hopeFor hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love,For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faithBut the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.”—…
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Keep Your Eye on the Ball
“Keep your eye on the ball” not only applies to sports, but also to life. A few years ago I played a lot of tennis and had a tennis coach to help me play better. She was quite good, not only at playing tennis and teaching it, but also helping with mental strategies which were useful in life. In a way she was my life coach. Perhaps I learned more of life’s lessons than how to improve my tennis game. Marlie would come to the net and say, “Linda, you must keep your eye on the ball. You know what I mean.” Sometimes the best way to explain a concept…
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Prayer
I went to a Lutheran church on Sunday and the minister’s sermon was about prayer. I was raised on prayer. It is the part of my early faith that I keep with me and treasure the most. In my mind’s eye, I can see my father rising early to pray before breakfast followed by work. The door to his room was shut, but I imagined him on his knees for that is the way I believed he prayed. To me prayer is private, profound and very powerful. My father had a love for prayer and I share this. Prayer is also related to communities of worship and can be both…
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Open my heart
The storm is over. I like the sound and feel of “the calm after the storm.” The air is cleaner and the earth is renewed. All the animals have returned. Did you know birds and cats and other animals have fine senses which tell them a storm is coming and to take cover? Cornell Ornithology Department says this about what birds do long before the hurricane or tornado arrives: Different birds use different ways to wait out a storm. Birds that normally roost in a cavity—such as chickadees, small owls, woodpeckers—hide out in their cavity. Birds that roost on branches, such as jays, sparrows, cardinals, crows, etc, tend to perch…
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Gone fishing
It is sunset and I am riding my bike for exercise. I am also on the lookout for birds and other animals. A blue heron flew over my head, legs dragging behind it. Her landing was smooth and she touched down right at the water’s edge. She positioned herself well to search for food. Her eyes were quick and darting. The great blue heron’s eyesight is about 3 times acute as ours. Its binocular vision gives it very good depth perception. Many of us are fishing for something–perhaps a change of scenery or something new by the water’s edge. One of my dear friends who spent many years in the…
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The Farrier
If you have followed my blog, then you know “Rosie” my beloved donkey. She is actually my brother’s friend Sarah’s donkey and she lives on his farm in Western Pennsylvania. My mother took good care of her by giving her treats including lettuce, banana peels, and other vegetables. Donkeys have jobs and her job is to protect the sheep, the lambs and the goats. How does she do that? With a swift kick to the approaching enemy or a stomp which means ” get far away.” She is a beauty at 22 years old and could live to be 40 years old. Recently she was visited by a farrier. Like…
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“Because of the unexpected”
2021 has been a challenging year for me. And yet the more I live into it, the more I realize that nothing in life is certain. We must continually reach for what is good and true and has some meaning to us. Today I am 67 years old, which seems old to me. However, I just finished riding my bike 7 miles beside the sea. The air was refreshing and I felt young– the wind swept over me as the waves crashed all around. The unexpected may not be over. And there is still that hole in my heart which gave breath to me inside my mother. When I was…
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Being Present
I’ve been listening to a wonderful podcast called Art and Faith: A Theology of Making by Makoto Fujimura. It is about creating and painting as a discipline. Even when one is experiencing grief and trauma one can create. Fujimura’s book shows how making art can help us better understand God’s work in our lives. It may even show us how our own creativity can reflect creation itself. I have always been a listener and an observer of the arts. My brief introduction into the world of painting was a disaster. My imagination was willing, but my mastery of the tools was weak. I was also impatient. But I have always…
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Body Armor
I finally watched “My Octopus Teacher” and I walked away from it with tears in my eyes and lessons learned. I won’t tell the whole story in case you haven’t seen it. It is indeed worth your time. The artist–Craig Foster–is an excellent narrator and an even better diver and observer of the ocean beneath–particularly this individual octopus. He comes to the project with depression and burnt out from filming and life. I can relate to that. It took him ten years (& octopuses do not live long) to create this documentary. Frustration and fear concerning my recent illness has grown in me. Its cause’s ability to hide in my…
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Mothering
Memories of our own mothers flood over us on Mother’s Day. Unconditional love, teaching, mentoring and patience is what we like to remember. We don’t have to be mothers to “mother” someone or something. One of my powerful memories is mothering a fledgling that Gregory and I found in our yard one morning. We actually found 3, but one got away and one died in the heat of a July summer. We did manage to feed Laurel the right food after failing a few times. With the help and ingenuity of my father who just happened to be visiting us — Laurel learned to fly under his love and patience.…
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Vulnerability
We often think of vulnerability as a weakness, but I have come to see it as a strength. Vulnerability is having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. I remember visiting Rome and taking a tour through the Coliseum. We learned that gladiators–usually prisoners of war, slaves or criminals–were kept locked in cells in an underground passageway and would be led up a stairway to a trap door that would snap open and leave them stranded on the ground floor in the colosseum to face their opponent and possible death. Talk about vulnerability as weakness, but maybe many of these people…
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Rosie the Donkey
Everything I learned about donkeys I learned from Rosie. Rosie lives on my brother’s farm and she takes care of the sheep and the goats and maybe even the chickens from time to time. In winter she has a very thick coat which is good because some nights are very cold. Donkeys, like horses, sleep standing up. That is hard for us humans to understand, but their bodies are used to and in fact require it. You might see a horse lying down in a meadow on a warm day, but not my Rosie. Rosie is gentle and loves vegetables. She is vegan. When my mother visited the farm she…
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My History
On Sunday I was in a small group after church speaking about our histories and some of the legacies we might find if we dare look. We were looking not only at our parents, but also at our grandparents and deep into our history. What does that look like? What can we imagine from what we know of the present and the past? I thought about my mother and her deep roots of Protestantism. As I became more Anglo-Catholic, she challenged me on many issues, but the one she disliked the most was “Intercession through the Saints.” Once we were in a small Episcopal church in Washington and she had…
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In Fog
I did three loads of laundry today. As I folded the duvet cover, I did not put it back on the pristine white duvet. Why? I am living for now. It is only a duvet. I am no longer protecting the future, but rather living in the present. I remember how my mother only took out her good china teacups on special occasions. I used to tease her about this, but later I would understand. She was a child of the Depression and of scarcity. I have known no scarcity. I have never known scarcity. But I do know what living in fog is like. I do not know if…
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Out of the earth comes life
Christmas is coming and mine is going to be very simple. I did take it upon myself to grow two Amaryllises. I hope they will have full double red blossoms. They arrived from White Flower Farm in beautiful linen bags. The potting instructions say: “Place a well-drained potting mix in a tub. Slowly add warm water and stir with your hand until the mix is moist and not soggy.” That line made me think. Soggy would make the mix set up like cement, but moist would make the potting soil a muck where life can grow. When will there be growth? Patience is necessary. It will need more time in…
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No Expectations
This year I am approaching Advent and Christmas with “no expectations.” I am grateful to be here, to have enough food and a warm place to live. My mother always loved Christmas. We would gather at Thanksgiving–eat a wonderful meal prepared by her and then take walks around the pond and land. The next day my younger sister and I would drive the grandchildren to Pittsburgh. First stop was the Andy Warhol Museum. Kids love Andy Warhol–brightly colored paintings, lithographs and Mylar balloons to bat around. Next we visited the Christmas fair on Forbes Avenue. In my spending days “full of expectations,” I bought many ornaments and they remain some…
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Hibernate in Body and Mind
Many of my friends who are retiring, talk of moving west or south to be warmer in winter. What about hibernation in winter? Would hibernation help people get through long winters or would it make it worse? Hibernation works very well for certain animals – bears, squirrels, bats and other mammals. I can see a very large and comfy squirrel nest in my pine tree. Animals hibernate in the winter to conserve energy and because there isn’t enough food readily available. Frogs hibernate in the water they live in. They have a fluid in their bodies that acts like antifreeze. Ice crystals form in such places as the body cavity…
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Solitary Blue Herons
Every evening at dusk, I ride my bike in Asbury by a lake that has two solitary Blue Herons. Usually, they are on the same side of the lake and often they are standing quietly in the water. Blue Herons nest and do have families, but after that they spend most of their time alone. They are carnivores, eating fish and turtles and other creatures. It is easier to catch food when you are alone. There are also two white Egrets by themselves, socially distanced from the Blue Herons. I can identify with both the Blue Heron and the Egret in their solitariness. For me there is no prey, but…
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To Find a Voice
The World Food Program was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its response to the surge in global hunger across the world brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. David Beasley, the program’s executive director was found in the field — Niger– elated to turn the spotlight on the millions who struggle to have enough to eat. Niger is a landlocked country and prone to draught and famines. The people around him were clapping and dancing with joy. Oh turn your swords into “ploughshares.” The American poet Louise Gluck (pronounced Glick) won the Nobel Prize for Literature. I do not know her poetry well, but bookstores will soon be replenished of…
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Job and Our Suffering
Last week at a small Bible study group of four women, we chose the Book of Job to study for the next few weeks. When I began to read it I wondered why I was so interested in studying a book full of relentless suffering. It was difficult just to read the first few chapters. Take a look at the above engraving by William Blake. This is how Job begins — prosperous — a big family, great riches and lots of animals. Shortly after we began the book, there was an OP-ED on Saturday, September 26th in the NY Times. The title was ” How Can We Bear This Much…
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Things to be sure about —
Throughout this time of isolation, I have had my fair share of Netflix and Amazon Prime shows watched. Now I have stopped the binging and am reading more about nature, fiction, and keeping active biking, volunteering with animals and singing. It is evident from the shows I indulged in that no matter how imperfect families can be, the “hold” which is the love that a family has can be strong in the midst of change. My extended family stretches from PA, to NJ, upstate NY, and WA. state, but it is knit not only by DNA, but also common traits and interests. It is also bound by the beliefs and…
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In flight
The season of migration is upon us. Some of it we see right in front of our eyes and some of it goes unnoticed. I’ve been reading Helen Macdonald’s book Vesper Flights. She opens our eyes to the unseen flights of birds and other creatures. These are magical essays predominantly about nature. Macdonald is an expert writer on nature and you may have read her best-selling book — H is for Hawk. Helen is also a poet. She shows us many aspects of nature which will move us beyond the boundaries of our present lives. In the essay called “High Rise,” we venture into the city of New York to…
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Kindness must watch for me
I find myself unable to edit the blogs I write, so I send them back to the “draft” stage. It is as though I can only write in the immediate moment — the true present. It is also hard to find my true voice. My desperation comes out of anger, not depression. This poem by James Agee has rung true for me for many years, but now during this pandemic, this time of moral unrest and economic injustice, I believe it is particularly meaningful. Here it is both the poetic form and the song composed by Morten Lauridsen. Sure on this shining night Sure on this shining nightOf star made…
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The Sun over my Shoulders
In the middle of the journey of my life, I came to find myself, in a dark wood, where the direct way was lost. It is a hard thing to speak of, how wild, harsh and impenetrable that wood was, so that thinking of it recreates the fear. It is scarcely less bitter than death: but, in order to tell of the good that I found there, I must tell of the other things I saw there. Dark Woods and fear I cannot rightly say how I entered it. I was so full of sleep, at that point where I abandoned the true way. But when I reached the foot of a…
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The summer the music died
Four years ago I left Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and moved to a small beach town called Asbury Park, New Jersey. It is not for everyone, but somehow it has suited me well. If given the opportunity I might have picked Dutchess County where I had lived on and off for over 13 years, but the shore beckoned. Asbury Park is best known for its favorite son — Bruce Springsteen. He appears locally quite a bit, but my only encounter with him was at our son’s school the night of his induction into the Honor Society. Bruce was there as well, celebrating his daughter’s own induction. I smiled at this handsome,…
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Mrs. Woolf, Would You Care to Join Me for a Cup of Tea?
Prelude: I turned the corner of Great Russell Street and realized I was about to meet my favorite author, Virginia Woolf. My heart was filled with a mixture of awe, some intimidation, and the realization that we came from such different pasts. I finally decided that I would be just who I am – a woman who had fallen in love with her works in graduate school. Her battle with “moodiness” or what we now call bipolar illness interested me, but I probably would not be able to approach that most difficult subject. I had carefully chosen The Bloomsbury Hotel, not only because it was elegant, but also nearby were…
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Random Thoughts
I know I say I am doing well and In comparison to most that is true But there are thoughts ringing in my head that never Were there before. Thoughts of suffering and change around the world. In Bangladesh cancelled clothing orders have snatched meals from women and families. Elderly musicians in Louisiana and North Carolina keep singing and playing without any income. Even with a modest income I am privileged. I try to divide up my pie to help the hungry here and far away, but it is never enough. I don’t sulk, but reflect on what it is to live alone. I thought I was fine with this…
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“The Tender Gravity of Kindness”
This is a time when we need to lean into kindness. I was going to write about how I am experiencing kindness and what I am doing to engage in kind acts. However, I would rather we look at this poem by Naomi Shahib Nye. It shows us how kindness is the other side of sorrow. Journey with it and let it grow within you. A bird just flew into my window where I am writing. I wrapped it in a cloth, thinking it might have been in shock and took it to my favorite neighbor who knows everything about birds. We talked while it gently breathed its last. It…
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In the Midst of a Pandemic – Change
Jane Goodall tells us that four changes would help the world’s climate. We must eliminate poverty. Unsustainable lifestyles must change. Abolish corruption. Reverse our growing human population. And now here we are in the midst of this devastating pandemic which is actually changing our behavior. Here are a few observations: The sighting of the snow leopard and a new baby bison has been magical. 10,000 flamingos landed in Mumbai, India for the first time. Reserve gas and oil storage are full beyond capacity because airplanes are practically grounded, and cars are driving less. Countries with rampant air pollution look cleaner and healthier. China’s emissions fell by 25% and their fossil…
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Happy as the Grass was Green
When I wake up in the morning, it is hard for me to remember my dreams from the night before. But, occasionally a dream will drift into my daytime hours. Even a waking dream can give clues to who I am and what’s on my mind. The other day I found myself thinking about two jobs that I had during my college years. The summer of 1972, I took a job working at the Brockway Glass Company in Washington, PA. The company hired college students to make boxes and watch for flawed glass coming out of the hot furnaces on the conveyor belt. Often I worked the midnight to eight…
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Solo
Scarcity vs. Plenitude A while ago my mother told me that I would never make it through a real crisis, because I didn’t store enough food. She may have been thinking of her own experience as a young girl on a family farm during the depression. She did have food, but lacked other necessities. I am urban. She would be happy to know that I have extended my days of food stocking to 12 days, but I have not been able to reach 2 weeks. Having enough is what I believe I have always enjoyed and this is the first time I have doubted that belief. The cupboard is almost…
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Hello in There: a Reflection
Here’s where we were a year ago: As I write this the “USNS Comfort” is making its way up the Hudson River to dock in New York City. This is a time when our swords have been beaten into pruning hooks– instruments for trimming back, nurturing and growth. For this one moment, we are fighting a war not against others, but against ourselves. This is a time when we get together by being alone, when we sing in isolation with hundreds of people — virtually. There is some happiness in here. We continue to sing, because we are in a sort of captivity and it is all we can do.…
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Isolation and Contact
Slowly we are finding new ways to communicate while remaining isolated in our homes. I am reminded of a movie I saw many years ago — it might have been a Truffaut — in which a small girl is left alone in her family’s apartment. She’s pretty upset by this, but never in danger. She gets a megaphone and begins to tell her neighbors what her family has done to her. They rig ropes and soon fruit, fresh bread and desserts arrive at her window. In a way she has the last laugh as now everyone is suspecting that her parents have been negligent. We, too, are feeling sorry for…
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One Big Time-Out
Recently I spoke to a friend about what we’re going through right now. She said that the world and now the United States is in “one big time-out.” I was surprised to think of it in this way, but the isolation we are experiencing is different from anything I have ever known. Time-out is usually a temporary break from an activity that has become somehow problematic. We have been given this opportunity to make something out of the unknown. Time-out as social distancing: In child rearing, a “time-out” is a technique for giving a child a break from a pattern of behavior that is unacceptable. But all of us are…
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Kinship with all things
I am returning to a blog written over three years ago, knowing that my aging cat Tabitha has passed on and the people of Syria continue to suffer. It is a difficult time for many around the world and in this country. There is so much that fills me: plants, animals, clouds, day and night, and the eternal in man. The more uncertain I have felt about myself, the more there has grown up in me a feeling of kinship with all things. ~Carl Jung; Memories Dreams, pg.359 I have found in prayer a kinship with humanity and with animals. I love the liturgical prayers, but I also find myself…
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I Like you just the way you are
Last week I was in the middle of a misunderstanding which grew and loomed over my week. It was brought on by someone taking over what I thought I was doing. I’ve been working on ridding myself of these bad feelings without writing unnecessary e-mails about how angry I was and without hurting more people. Here are a few things I learned as I journeyed through this. Try to go to the places in your life that give you strength and encouragement and help you let go what you are hanging onto. Walking is good and riding a bike by the sea on an unexpected warm day can heal the…
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My Last Road Trip
Two years ago in August, my best friend and I decided to take a road trip to Maine. Our first stop was Buffalo, where Expedia had found us a charming boutique hotel called “The Henry.” To reach the hotel from the interstate, Siri led us on a winding industrial route far from the center of town. Suddenly we faced a sprawling, red brick institution. It turned out that The Henry was fashioned out of an abandoned insane asylum. Once inside, it was fresh, bright and cozy, with dazzling art on the walls and charming architectural details. Sadly, the desk attendant found no reservation for us and the hotel was full.…
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People In Love with Themselves
What is forgiveness and what is a gift? I have been watching the Democratic debates. In the most recent one, the candidates reached new lows in attacking one other. The last question came from Judy Woodruff and it was meant to embrace the Holiday season: “Name a candidate from whom you would ask forgiveness for something—maybe that was said tonight—or a candidate to whom you’d like to give a gift.” This question was first directed to Andrew Yang. It caught him off-guard. He stared into space, befuddled, not knowing what to say. Finally he said, “I don’t think I have much to ask forgiveness for—you all can correct me on this.”…
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A Sustainable Christmas Tree
I just finished reading an article about the most “sustainable” way to have a Christmas tree. I’m certainly not here to judge anyone’s tree or how organic or sustainable it should be. However, I do remember my favorite trees as a child and I believe they came pretty close to the Sierra Club’s definition of “sustainable.” Today those trees surround the house where I grew up. The last time I drove by they seemed to be healthy, stately and still very beautiful. When my parents were in the middle of their lives, the family would gather after Thanksgiving to pick out a live Christmas tree. I can remember Blue spruce,…
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Emotional Intelligence – how to feel
I am presently devouring the 3rd Season of “The Crown.” I don’t believe everything the Queen does and says in it is factual, but the actress Olivia Coleman is so good at times it seems as if I am in Buckingham Palace. In the episode I just saw there is a terrible mining disaster in Wales and many children are buried alive. Over 100 perish. Eventually the Queen visits the village, but she later confides to the Prime Minister that she does not know how to feel or how to weep. “I dabbed a bone-dry eye and by some miracle no one noticed, ” she confesses. Then, when she is…
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Indomitable spirit: Dr. Jane Goodall
I had the privilege of taking a “Master Class” online with Dr. Jane Goodall. It taught me an immense amount about her work and how she has pursued a life dedicated to chimps, their intelligence and conservation. She has also led the way in animal activism and environmental preservation. She sparkles with energy and hope I was most surprised by her broad acceptance of the human race. She is still hopeful in spite of all the destruction that is happening in the world. As she speaks, serenely dressed in a cape of dark green, her eyes dance with hope and energy. She glows with the confidence and intelligence of a…
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Chickens Roost to Sleep
The last animal I stopped eating was chicken. I don’t know why I continued to eat chicken for so long. But I must have had a wrong-headed idea about chickens. In July of 2018, I spent some days visiting my brother on his farm. 7 chickens and 2 roosters roamed the fields at their own will. These chickens were hybrid chickens–beautiful red and pink colors. One night we saw a fox on a far away hill and it looked as if it might be feeding cubs. This meant trouble for the chickens. We had already lost one chicken due to a unsuspected hole in their pen. The next night around…
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I’m Becoming My Mother
I believe that my mother was true to herself. She had her opinions and they were strong, but she was an honest, hard-working person with intelligence and a mind of her own. She could do almost anything she set her mind to do. She studied academic subjects in school, including Latin. After high school she went to Penn Commercial and became an outstanding typist, bookkeeper, and shorthand taker. These skills may sound foreign today, but in her day they were highly valued and any one of them could land you a good job. Here’s a small part of what she taught me by her actions. Love animals and take care…
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Yesterday
Recently I heard the song “Yesterday” by the Beatles and I was moved to tears. The memory of the loss of my beloved grandmother washed over me and I knew exactly the moment in time and the place. Quickly I returned to a time when I was a young girl of 13. I sensed that losing my grandmother would change my life, but I had no way of knowing how long it would take for me to understand it. I remember being in in her apartment after the loss. I liked being near her things. She had been an organist in the Methodist church and she had a small electric organ.…
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My Grandmother’s Way
“We always put manure on our garden and we never had any bugs, but now they’ve got all those fancy fertilizers. You just watch they’ll be coming back to our ways.” Her voice had a ring of independence. She knew what she was talking about. She was a farmer and a hard worker. I would come upon her in the garden — her short sturdy figure bent over vegetables or stooped picking strawberries in the hot morning sun. She wore a cotton-checked dress and a big straw hat that covered her freckled face and milky white shoulders. Only her hands, stained by the earth, were weathered. ” I always put a potato in my…
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A New Nest
Grove Street on SundayMigration is the movement of people or animals to a new area or country in order to find better living conditions. It is about finding a new home. For me it is change and beginning a new life. Seven years ago I made that change. In 1984 the Mid-Atlantic, for work and a larger future in the publishing field. My boss a native NYER recommended me for a New York publishing sales position with Scribner, Athenaeum and Macmillan Publishing. It catapulted me to a city that I had already fallen in love with while working at the Baltimore Museum of Art. My early days in New York…
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Writers and Books
Most of my life I have spent studying books, writing about books, selling books and for the past 8 months researching and writing my own blog. Books and the culture of art, photography, music and writing are more than passions for me – they are indeed my way of life. Rather than do a summary of my resume I will give you some highlights of what I have done. I have had a variety of demanding positions in New York, New York in publishing sales and management as well as Baltimore, Maryland in museum store management and marketing. Marilynne Robinson said when she turned 70 years old she felt no…
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Close by the cathedral
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A Few Christmas Memories
I find myself looking back this Advent to remember traditions my parents and my siblings shared. Many of them are simple, but they give me deep joy and peace at how wondrous it is to be present during this season. One of our traditions was to go out to a farm and pick a beautiful live Christmas tree. It had a large root ball and was quite heavy. The hole where it would be planted was already dug and prepared. For me today this is a symbol of hope. We are not cut down during Advent, but rather planted to grow again in Spring. There is much to look forward…
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Ubi Caritas: where charity and love are, God is there
Ola Gjeilo, the pianist in this piece, is also the composer of the work which is played and sung below. He is Swedish and it was written in 2011. You will recognize that the Trinity Choir has sung this piece several times under the direction of our most recent choir masters. The words are: Where charity and love are, God is there The love of Christ has gathered us together. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Let us revere and love the living God. And from a sincere heart let us love one another. Amen. We know that we do not have to be together in the same…
