“Ruffled feathers and endless squawking over a minor difficulty is typical of a crow’s life. I lean back on the counter and realize that could be my line….”
It’s Back to School Night tonight at Notre Dame, and even though we’re doing it remote, I’m thinking about my overgrown hair, dull teeth, the smudges on my glasses, an appropriate background, my speech, and the fact that I can do this barefoot and no one will know. I escaped to the lake house this […]
I let my imagination swim in the open water, long strokes, cooling my thoughts, stretching the tight and rigid muscles of the mind.
I open my eyes this morning still moored to a fading dream, not fully awake, not fully asleep. One of my legs escaped the tangled sheets in the middle of the night and the crisp morning air assaults my bare thigh. Transparent dreams pull at me as the day struggles to take hold and now […]
I said to Larry, “Honey, what would we grab if we had to evacuate?” Larry says, “We’re not evacuating?” “I know but what would we take if we only had minutes to decide?” I get the look, he says, “my wallet.” “What about our wedding album? “How about we just grab the dog?” Many friends […]
It’s as if the world has taken a timeout, life is moving at a slower pace, yet it’s more complicated than ever. I do appreciate the opportunity to hear my own thoughts, but they’re imbued with so much anxiety, it’s both a blessing and a curse. Have you ever found yourself entangled in this sticky […]
When I stop and think about it I do a lot of complicated and ritualistic things in order to control the uncontrollable. Does it work? No. Twyla Tharp says this must be why ancient societies created rituals. Not unlike today, they lived in constant fear of enemies, nature, weather, food supply, illnesses, herds, even […]
The phone rings. It’s a face-time call from my daughter Julie. As I slide my finger over the pulsating arrow, a broken angel comes into view. I say, “oh no, did this one end up in a squabble too?” “Mom, are you attached to this angel?” It’s been living on my mantle for about twenty […]
Do you hear what I hear? Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock…is this a cultural construct or the work of medieval religious institutions who wanted to regulate daily prayers, rest, and work schedules? Well, let me just say not much has changed. I feel regulated much of the time, not just by clocks, but my […]
I love to sleep. As Ernest Hemingway so eloquently claims, “my life has the tendency to fall apart when I’m awake, you know?” For example, just this morning, before I opened my eyes, I received a facetime call from my daughter Julie (I’m at the lake, she’s in the Bay Area house), and the image […]
Family update, not that you asked, but I’m just getting over my PTS from last week, and I could use a little support from things that don’t slither or build webs. Even gratuitous interest is welcome. Something I knew, but conveniently forgot, three-year-olds scream. A lot. It’s sort of an ear-piercing howl that lingers in […]
