Reflections on faith, travel, writing, and small moments
Today is overcast and grey. I’ve never done well on gray overcast days. They seem to suck up my energy and make me lethargic and contemplative. I didn’t notice this about myself, however, until I lived in Russia for two years after college. The winters are long, cold, and grey in St. Petersburg. Everyone knows…
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Have I mentioned how much I love fabric? I don’t think so. Allow me to mention it. I love textiles. The feel – smooth, cool silk; cozy, warm flannel; crisp, strong cotton. The patterns and designs – each one a piece of art. The possibilities – a dress, an apron, a quilt? Yes, a quilt.…
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A couple of weeks ago I got bit by an unidentified insect. Three times on the inner crease of my left arm. I have no idea who the culprit was or when it happened. I do know that it got infected, with a large red bullseye around two of the bites. Almost a week after…
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I always say that fall and spring are my favorite seasons – usually in the dead of winter or scorching summer when I’m looking forward to relief from extreme temperatures. But as the winter freeze begins to thaw, I find 80 degrees with glittering sunshine one day and 50 degrees with overcast skies and pouring…
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Another tragedy. Another mass shooting. The same reactions. The same comments on social media. The same satiric cartoons. The same charts, graphs, and statistics. The same old rhetoric. What wasn’t the same was my reaction. As I scrolled through my social media accounts and saw the tears, anger, frustration I didn’t feel the same way…
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When I taught English in New York a number of years ago, I worked with another teacher who often talked about her privileged upbringing. I can’t speak for her intentions, only how it made me feel. Less than. Not good enough. Unworthy. I felt as though I didn’t deserve as much as she did. I…
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When I decided to go back into teaching, the one thing I dreaded most was cell phones in the classroom. I knew it would be an issue, so I decided that I just wasn’t going to let it bother me. At first it didn’t. I would tell students to put their phones away when we…
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Agree. This is one of those words that I automatically associate with its opposite – disagree. Agree has lovely images of harmony and unity, to be of one mind. This rarely happens. Several years ago, I worked on a committee with someone who routinely stated, “We can all agree that . . .” knowing full…
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What comes to mind when you hear the word surrender? For me, it evokes images of giving up after a struggle. Waving the white flag. Admitting defeat. The greatest moment of surrender in my life came over a cup of tea. I had been living in Nepal for about four months – the realization of…
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When I first moved to a small southern town almost two and half years ago, driving on the narrow, winding roads terrified me. Used to the wide relatively flat roads of the west, I cringed every time a truck came whipping around a bend, hugging the middle line. I would instinctively tap my breaks and…
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