• once upon a time

    by  • February 6, 2006 • 7 Comments

    In the early nineties, Robert Olen Butler wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning short story collection called A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain. I read it for a Fiction Writing course I took while working on my MA in English. My favorite story was “Fairy Tale,” mostly because of the first paragraph: I like...

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    how do we appreciate?

    by  • February 3, 2006 • 3 Comments

    Any time we have a discussion about a meal at church and the discussion turns to how we are going to pay for it before we talk about why we are having the meal or what we are going to have, I’m afraid the folks in the room know what I’m going to say...

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    food and poetry: part two

    by  • February 2, 2006 • 0 Comments

    Today I’m cooking for a Teacher Appreciation Dinner at church and I’m making fresh pasta (report and recipes tomorrow), which brings me to pass on another poem shared with me by another friend. She found it through the Writer’s Almanac. The poet is Kate Scott, from her book Stitches. Pasta In the yellow kitchen...

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    food and poetry

    by  • February 1, 2006 • 4 Comments

    This poem was passed along by a friend from long ago: Sarah McManus Bickle. Her first email did not say who wrote it. When I inquired, i found out she did! Sarah is an ESL teacher at Jasper High School in Dallas, Texas. Great work, Sarah! How Black Bean Tacos Saved My Life In...

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    breakfast cookies and care

    by  • January 31, 2006 • 0 Comments

    Last week I had a small catering gig for a gathering of the In-Care students for the Southeast Area of the Mass. Conference of the UCC. In-care students are our seminarians. Various congregations take them “in-care,” which means we provide support and encouragement. If you are going to support and encourage people, you gotta...

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    this is me in grade nine, baby

    by  • January 30, 2006 • 10 Comments

    My friend, Mia, responded to my post, “re-member, then” with this comment and quote: Your post made me think of a James Hillman quote – “our lives my be determined less by our childhood than by the way we have learned to imagine our childhoods”. James Hillman is a new name to me, but...

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    building a mystery

    by  • January 27, 2006 • 2 Comments

    One of my memories of teenage trips to Six Flags Over Texas was bridge made of barrels across some fabricated pond. The barrels meant each step had its own tilt: the walk was not straight or easy, but at least you had ropes along the sides to hang on to. The last couple of...

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    re-member, then

    by  • January 25, 2006 • 4 Comments

    When I was growing up, Saturdays meant Taco Salad for lunch. My mother made this wonderful mixture of beef, beans, lettuce, cheese, and Fritos that may have mostly consisted of opening cans and packages, but tasted like home. We never got tired of Saturday lunches. It is still one of my favorite meals. I...

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    how was your day?

    by  • January 24, 2006 • 1 Comment

    My friend Patty sent me a link to an article in the Boston Globe which began: “Last year around this time, a Cardiff University psychologist named Dr. Cliff Arnall scored some publicity with his declaration that January 24 is the most depressing day of the year.” Alex Beam’s wonderful column went on to describe...

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