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Beginner's Heart

You may already have seen the PBS video on Shirley & Jenny, two elephants who never forgot each other. It’s not recent — at least 10 years old. But it was new to me. Elephants have totemic significance in my family. They were beloved of my mother, and we all indulged her. As a result,…

A friend sent me a blog post from a blogger I don’t follow. And what Mr. Lake had to say (he’s the blogger) had to say resonated deeply. I’m the kind of person who donated money for free speech during the trials of Nazis in Skokie, Illinois. Knowing what I do now about hate speech,…

The goldfinches have (finally!) arrived. They’re going through about a feeder of thistle seed every couple of days. My sister, looking out the breakfast room window onto the 1-2-3-4-5-6+ feeding and water stations, wondered aloud what this costs us monthly. It’s not negligible. 🙂 But it’s soooo worth it. Afternoons like this, when there’s still…

Even before I did a graduate paper on the Quaker preacher Elizabeth Ashbridge, I’ve been fascinated by Quakerism. The idea that the Divine is knowable to each individual, w/out the mediation of text or preacher or church, is a deeply attractive belief. One I hold firmly: you don’t need a preacher or a holy (wo)man…

Okay — so it’s politics and soapbox time (you can tune out now, if engaged Buddhism doesn’t fit your needs today — I really get it). Sunday, NO ONE spent time on the disastrous West Virginia chemical spill. 300,000 American citizens fighting over potable bottled water so fiercely that WalMart has to call police, and…

After whining so piteously yesterday about New Year’s resolutions, and laying new habits in place, I had one of those days when the bad habits were sooo much easier to forget. I know the sneaky devils will be back, but yesterday? All was good. I added 15% to my distance — w/out changing my time!…

So: why is it soooo hard to form good habits, and so EASY to lapse into bad ones?? Doesn’t it seem that good intention ought to count for something?? Sheesh. I’ve been back on the recumbent bike since New Year’s. And each day remains a bit of a struggle to figure out just when I’m…

When’s the last time you gave yourself a present? Not something you ‘need,’ or even something you lust for (like a new pair of shoes, or a fountain pen, or…). Just a small treat. Not even edible, necesarily. 🙂 This holiday, we bought my nephew a tea he likes, courtesy of his sister’s suggestion. I…

I’m drinking what America should BE right now (bear with me: it’s metaphor time). Coffee from Africa, rich & fragrant. Chocolate from South America. Cinnamon from Saigon, cayenne pepper from who knows where, and milk from an organic farm coop of many American states. In a bee mug (from my BFF!). With a silver spoon…

I’m reading an old issue of American Poet. They tend to pile up, kind of like my New Yorker issues. Things that come frequently, or have intellectual density, often get lost under doing dishes, exercise, feeding birds. The necessary acts of daily life. But the poem I just finished — Gary Snyder’s ‘Axe Handles‘ — reminds…
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