“In one year, something invisible without magnification has gripped the entire world in its clutches. Not a person on the planet hasn’t been touched, and will continue to be touched, by this microscopic enemy. Crazy.”
All in Miscellany
Calming Balms
“…it is possible to employ calming balms during fever-pitch times of fear and anxiety. The choice to use them? Well, that’s yours. Wrapping yourself in calm is a self-directed strategy. But the effort can work well, and is worth the effort… When we’re able to step back from the fray, we gain perspective. When we quiet our minds, they can refill with welcome awareness.”
The Present is A Gift
“About forty years ago, I gave myself one of the finest gifts ever: the reframing of an interior life that was dark, depressed, and negative. Learning a new habit to choose a fresh, upbeat approach to my days was demanding work… Gradually, I was able to build a new way of life…”
Courageous Campaigners
“On the evening of the 2016 election, I decided to entertain myself with a contest to see how long it would be before I heard the word “2020." It happened (no surprise) in minutes. In so many ways, it’s been a long four years.”
Maybe That’s A Good Idea
Just now, while renewing my morning tea, waiting for it to steep, Tuesday’s dinner drifted back into my awareness. Looking around at what there was in the kitchen, I polled my tastebuds, wondering, “what would be good?” The idea of Mexican food bubbled up, seemed interesting, appealing. “Hmmm,” I mused, “maybe that’s a good idea.”
Celebrating Two-Thirds
“It was three days before Christmas, 1953. In an era when women often spent many days in the hospital after childbirth, the doctors told my mother to go home, to be with her family for the holidays. Her new baby was going to die anyway.”
Not a Germ-Phobe, but...
“Normally, sleep comes easily and lasts well for me. However, for no discernable reason, one night recently, I woke up at 2:15am, and didn’t slumber again until after five o’clock. As soon as I was up for that regular nocturnal bathroom trip, I could tell that I was unusually wide awake.”
Sky-High Sanctuary
“Sometimes the sky is a great escape, a place where a person frazzled by the terrestrial world can send thoughts that seem to have nowhere else to go. Looking at the sky raises my eyes up, away from the fuss and bother of whatever is before me.”
An Allegory In Two Parts
“Who would have thought I’d feel like such a rule-breaker for having a scone and a cup of coffee. Yet there I was, delighting in these things while idling in the cocoon of my car on the city street, seeing people — people!—walk by, jog by, drive by.”
The Earth Keeps Spinning
“One of my favorite Facebook posts of the pandemic was the one in which the human world exclaims, “There’s no way we can shut everything down in order to lower emissions, slow climate change, and protect the environment.” Mother Nature’s reply: “Here’s a virus. Practice.”
Small Civilized Steps
“When someone who otherwise self-identifies as a good human knows that a term can be offensive to another human nonetheless uses such hurtful words, I fail to understand why. This question has now reared its ugly head with the use of the term, “Chinese virus.”
Blue Eagle
Daily life and regular plans were set aside recently and a full-house church of people came together in Denver to honor a man I was honored to call my step-dad.
This is 'That' Week
“It began for me on September 12, but that was back in 1986. Ever since, this has been a week-long stretch of honoring things past. After all, one loses one’s mother only once.”
Imagine (In Honor of Trent Hall)
“Imagine entering a profession notorious for its soul-sucking nature. You maybe didn’t really understand what that would mean at the start, but it doesn’t take long to realize.”
To Climb A Mountain
“As I huffed and puffed my way up… the memory of what it takes to climb a mountain flooded back to me.”
Tips from Other Travelers...
“…in those days, we compared notes with people traveling in the opposite direction. The result was fresh word-of-mouth insights & important travel tips.”
Coming Back
Where am I? I don't know. I don't know, but it doesn't really matter. I know I am lying in unfamiliar air with a big, open window.
The Adventure Juggling Act
“Adventures are all about challenging myself to step beyond the everydayness of daily life…”
Walking On Ice: A Metaphor
“In the individual moments of our lives, each of us faces endless choices about how to move forward. We don’t—can’t–always know whether things will go well or not.”
The Passage of Time
“In the ‘olden days’ there were these things called watches, devices one wore on the wrist so as to keep track of the time.”