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Dust to Dust
Today we begin Lent with Ash Wednesday. I will use my blog to post some of my past blogs and revisit our thinking during this solemn time of reflection. Though this is an explicitly Christian season there are also important Jewish holidays. The Body: The first time I understood that the body is only a carcass was when I buried my cat, Katya. She had been a wonderful cat, and we had no idea she had an enlarged heart. Eventually she died of heart failure. We buried her under the birch tree in our yard at Blue Jay Court and even prayed an abbreviated version of the Burial Service in…
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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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What gives light in winter
“Still, what I want in my life is to be willing to be dazzled— to cast aside the weight of facts and maybe even to float a little above this difficult world. I want to believe I am looking into the white fire of a great mystery. I want to believe that the imperfections are nothing— that the light is everything—that it is more than the sum of each flawed blossom rising and falling. And I do.” ― Mary Oliver, House of Light Now through December we will slowly watch darkness overcome light. December 22 is the Winter Solstice, when one of the earth’s poles has its maximum tilt away from the…
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The Millwright and the Poet
In 1989 I was working for Doubleday Publishing as a national account representative, when I had the privilege of meeting Max DePree. We were publishing his book “Leadership is an Art.” Max’s father D. J. De Pree was the founder of Herman Miller — the creator of fine furniture designed by American and International designers. In the 1920’s factories were not run by electric motors, but rather by a central pulley system and boilers fueled by a continuous supply of sawdust. The millwright was the man in charge of keeping the whole system running. The Poet at home During that period, the millwright died and Max’s father went to visit…
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Not one Sparrow is forgotten in your Sight
Have you ever found yourself mourning the death of an animal? This week I was helping my former husband with his 20 year-old cat named Proshka. Proshka was a determined and willful girl. She liked being inside, but she liked equally to be outside. She would throw her body against the door to come in even in the middle of the night. James said, ” she ruled me from the day she came into my life, but I loved her.” James compiled a brief “blessing” from prayers from the Russian Orthodox Church. It began: “O God of all spirits and of every flesh, everything that has breath praises you both…
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“She danced every dance. She was not a spectator.”
I found a small box that had some letters and photographs that I had not seen in many years. They were from my college years and I had not read them in a long time. I think these “acts of love” speak to the values in life that are important and I hope to never forget them. My beloved Shakespeare and Literature Professor and friend: The first envelope contained a letter from my favorite College Professor and Chairman of the Literature Department. I received this upon graduation and part of it read: ” To have you as one of our majors is a special privilege, and we trust we have…
