I think I can say without fear of contradiction that this has been a weird year. And hey!--suddenly, it's Easter again. It feels rather surreal. Like many people, I have done very little to celebrate holidays during the pandemic. That's okay; I'm all for downsizing the fuss and nonsense and commercialization. Truth be told, I … Continue reading Easter Greetings/Pandemic Edition
Greetings! This week I've updated a Christmas post from a few years past. It seems more meaningful than ever right now. Long ago, in the pagan cultures of the far north, work and travel were severely limited by cold and snow as days grew shorter. Farmers and their families would remove a wheel from their carts … Continue reading Meditation on an Advent Wreath
Last week I listed a few of my favorite books for cold weather reading and gifting. This week, allow me to tell you about a few of my favorite read-aloud picture books for kids. These are all books I loved to read to my students when I was teaching, and I feel safe in saying they’re modern … Continue reading Read-Aloud Picture Books
I’ve heard it said that Russian novels are so long because Russian winters are so cold! What better way to spend time inside than reading a book? In Iceland I hear there’s a tradition of gifting family and friends with books and chocolate so they may take to their beds cozy and satisfied for a long … Continue reading Celebrating Books
If you and your loved ones are safe and healthy this year, then you have reason to be thankful. Please do all you can to stay that way! The safest thing to do this holiday season is to celebrate with your own household members, and greet the rest of your family and friends via phone call … Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving Week!
We’ve all been “sheltering” now, to one degree or another, for seven and a half months. Initially I was both alarmed and secretly pleased—because suddenly I could be my introvert self without apology. My biggest fear was that the whole thing would end too soon—before I completed the half-finished novel I’d been sitting on for the past … Continue reading Sheltering, Part 4
This Labor Day Weekend, I'm celebrating persistence and endurance as we make it through a second season of this Worldwide Pandemic. I continue to offer affirmations and prayers for better days ahead as autumn rolls in, and the days grow shorter. I've been hunkered down here at home since March. I'm guessing a lot of … Continue reading Happy Labor Day
I had something else laid out and ready to go this week, but coming up on the Independence Day Holiday, I felt a need to say something more. When friends ask how I am lately, I say cheerfully that I have my ups and downs. But this past week, after news of the Russians … Continue reading Pray For Our Country
Written with my Thursday night writing group (now meeting on Zoom!) with the prompts: one red shoe and oh, dear. Madelaine wore one red shoe and one green shoe because it was Christmas and she was in a wild holiday mood. She wondered, do cats see color?—because it was only the cats who would see … Continue reading How Madelaine Survives Quarantine
I wrote and published this piece six years ago, shortly after the death of a close friend. I came across it this week, and honestly, I'd forgotten that I wrote this as a Christmas meditation. The idea of surprise is becoming a theme for me this December. Life deals us all some pretty unpleasant surprises … Continue reading Loving Harvey: some Christmas musings
