Blue Heron Day
“Blue heron,” was the first thing he said, and he pointed to a patch of sky to my left. This he had to say twice, as his first attempt was cancelled out by the ear buds I wear whenever I attend this path –– this valiant […]
Untangling Knots
In my teen years, I spent considerable time pondering the nature of knots. How is it, I wondered, that I can wrap up something like a string of Christmas lights in a perfect loop, stash it in a bin, and somehow, without the slightest manipulation of human […]
Kill Your Darlings
Tuesday I was soaring high. In the morning, I had a conversation with myself in the car – if you’re a writer, you have a lot of conversations with yourself; there’s really no point in feeling embarrassed about it – after all, what is writing, if not […]
The Imperfect Good
“Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest”. ~ Ecclesiastes ~ Most commentaries on the above verse […]
The Ndugo Me – Saga of a Mutinous Organ
2:33 am, Saturday morning, and I couldn’t sleep. This happens to me sometimes for mysterious reasons, but tonight was no mystery. I was in pain. It started out as a nuisance pain in my stomach–bad enough to keep me awake, but not severe enough to worry me. […]
Have a Scary and Unsafe New Year
I’m thinking of all the encouragements and admonishments people tend to hand out this time of year. “Have a healthy New Year” “Have a prosperous New Year” “Have a safe and happy New Year” That last one, which happens to be the most commonly spoken, perplexes me. […]
Christmas Message to a Future Father
It is Christmas Eve! This Christmas is a bit of a benchmark for our family. By the looks of it, this will be the last Christmas your little brother believes in Santa. I say he still believes, but he’s already considering the strong possibility that his parents […]
