This summer’s fits and starts sputter into motion again this morning. We are home after a weekend away in which we watched our granddaughter perform in a play (and witnessed the pure joy on her face during the curtain call), enjoyed an afternoon rock hunting on a remote beach with our daughter and granddaughter (something
The week does not unfold as expected, but it falls in a pleasant way, nonetheless. I spend mornings writing, and after lunch and a chess game, we go out and do something together. One afternoon we pack our camera gear and go on a quest to photograph the Arrowleaf Balsamroot—a bright harbinger of spring in
I spend a silent and solitary day at home: writing, reading, potting flowers, staking tomatoes, and watering plants. But it is that moment when I’m standing barefoot on the grass in the backyard watering the tea garden and breathing in the gentle scent of lilacs that is, perhaps, the sweetest. I drop the hose, walk
The sun is shining and birds are singing. It’s early, but wise ones have already come to walk in this park. Some are in pairs, many more walk in solitude. They are taking good care of both their physical and mental selves. Me, I sit in my car. I’m waiting to pick Maya up from
We enjoy a light lunch at home after church, and a game of chess. Two games actually. I protest that carrots have distracted me and kept me from concentrating adequately on the game: Maya asking for more, and Gerry chewing on them. I coerce him into a second game and lose that one too. Then
Yes, it’s beautiful here. I don’t know why we perceive white sands, palm trees, and teal water as especially serene, but we do. Little wonder . . . it is. But is it any more awe-inspiring than snow falling from the sky like feathers dancing? Or the dry, desert-like heat of summer where we live?
We are in Mexico. We are staying at a resort we have been to a few times in the past. It’s beautiful, and large, and it can be a challenge to find stillness even here. In the morning I sit on the beach, digging my toes in the sand, and offer prayer. In the afternoon
Sunday is the golden clasp that binds together the volume of the week. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow After church, and a bowl of vegetable soup accompanied by a few rounds of Mastermind, we grab our cameras and Maya, and head out to see what we can see. Our destination is a pretty little spot on the
. . . for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. Philippians 4:11 ESV After lunch, we three take our cameras and head to a favourite park. First stop is the butterfly garden. It is awash with colourful blossoms—the tall, old-fashioned, hollyhocks the most prominent among them. Gerry and I wander
It's just the most amazing thing to love a dog, isn't it? It makes our relationships with people seem as boring as a bowl of oatmeal. John Grogan, Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog I’m taking Maya for a walk before bed. We’re walking up and down unfamiliar streets, then over,
Over the course of the millennia, all these multitudes of ancestors, generation upon generation, have come down to this moment in time—to give birth to you. There has never been, nor will ever be, another like you. You have been given a tremendous responsibility. You carry the hopes and dreams of all those who have