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Beginner's Heart

Photographers have a term for when there’s not light to shoot a picture. It’s called ‘opening up’: you increase the aperture — the hole through which you shoot the picture — to allow more light in. Otherwise, you get a dark picture. The problem w/ opening the lens up is that you have to hold it…

The heat index lately has been in triple digits: 105º, 108º, even 118º! Hot, in other words. Coming from beach breezes, a pool, and a glorious beach, it’s been a hard re-entry. But today, driving up from errands I didn’t want to run, summer offered me a huge bouquet — one I planted years ago.…

This is a liveoak, one of my favourite trees. Because they wear their age gracefully — their gnarled branches reaching out to passersby, beckoning with welcome. Battery Park in Charleston is full of them. Even Hurrican Hugo couldn’t kill them all, despite the feet of water deposited in the park those years ago.  They grow…

This is the view from the balcony, as I write. A study in silver, grey, moss & a blued-white. Beach grass, beach umbrellas, and beach birds. The pelicans that usually circle in front of & above the condos that fringe the shoreline have taken cover. Even the intrepid seagulls have fled. Me? I’m watching in…

There are moments that you recognise — even as they are happening — are perfect. You breathe as deeply as possible (especially if you’re a Buddhist!), because nothing lasts. And certainly not perfect moments. This is a picture of one such moment. What’s better than a beach peopled with family? What’s more beautiful than the…

Warning: this is another of those metaphors that seems profound to me. But may not to anyone else… 😉 As my beloved points out, they don’t work for him. Because today, as I watered my orchid terrarium, I noticed: there are buds! That little stem of green bubbles, held by a pink orchid clip, is…

I love the idea of Ramadan, as I’ve written before. I like the idea of doing without (although I am nooo good at it!), to remind us of our many blessings. I use that term w/ some trepidation, as most Americans associate the word ‘blessing’ with a divine gift. I’m using it more in the…

For some reason, if you’re not unconditionally in love with America, you’re not considered patriotic. In fact, I’ve been accused (more than once) of being anti-American. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. In the same way that those who love you know your foibles best, I am all too well aware of America’s imperfections.…

In case you’re wondering? I have no magic cure for grouchy days. Those days when every chore you have to do looms like Everest, and even the things that normally bring you pleasure seem a pain in the neck. You just muddle through. You do the things you’d planned — even if they aren’t particularly…

I have a dear friend who is, almost certainly, gay. We never discuss this — sexual behaviour isn’t a normal topic of conversation in most friendships! I worry that my friend has no partner, that my friend’s church and community are adamantly judgmental — in the most negative of ways — of gays. To come…
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