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Beginner's Heart

Years have names, although we usually don’t think of them that way. And this will be the year of my beloved’s ill health. Something there is in us that feels helpless when the people we love are hurting. And double pneumonia is pretty painful. Sitting here in the hospital, I am grateful fo quiet breathing, for…

This past year — heck, this past couple of months! — has been full of transitions. Passages, they once were called. But there are few markers for so many of life’s changes. Aging, for instance, doesn’t have a ceremony, a certain day when the world recognises you as an ‘elder.’ Nor do the slung arrows…

I have no clue why it’s so hard to do what’s good for us. Take exercise. Or meditation. Or eating right. Or cutting back on caffeine. Or just being nicer to folks you think must a few watts shy of a nightlight… Seriously: every time I begin (again!) my meditation practice, my exercise program, a…

This is my favourite Okie, Will Rogers. A true Renaissance man, Will Rogers was more than 1/4 Cherokee, something a lot of anti-brown Okies conveniently forget. He was also a die-hard liberal, however gently clothed his principles were in wit & irony. Rogers’ life contrasts sharply with that of today’s famous Okies — the infamous…

We had pizza for dinner last night. So today — as most pizza eaters know — was ‘leftover pizza’ day. Here’s the deal: my beloved must heat his. I eat it hot the first night, cold after. I actually like cold pizza! The very idea seems, to him, almost revolting. We have similar differences when we buy…

This is a love song to the power of the arts. It’s also a bit of a book review — in praise of a book so strong it will shatter your preconcieved notions and crack your heart open like an egg. It’s an ode to what books & paintings & sculpture & music & weavings…

Today my son & DIL’s back yard is snuggled in under a white blanket of new snow. Actually, the new inches are layered over the previous feet. This is the Blue Ridge Mountains, and snow is part of winter. And while it makes driving a huge chore — not to mention scary! — it’s so…

There are days we will hurt people. Days when our thoughtless actions will crack through the protective shells we all wear to get us through our lives. There are times when some thoughtless action — with no ill intent behind it — will stab someone like the slip of a knife used as a tool:…

See the snow outside? It’s inches — nothing for Boston (they should be so lucky!), but a big deal for Oklahoma. And more to come, the weather folks predict.  A cardinal is on one feeder, a vivid splash of colour in a drab landscape. His mate sits in the hanging platform feeder beside him, less…

  This used to be the way America looked at women voting. And to be honest, some of these jokes are still around. But for the vast majority of Americans, we accept that women have the right to vote. Even though it’s not in the original Constitution. That’s an important ‘even though,’ since far too many…
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