One of the joys of teaching English is vocabulary study. Every week or two, I turn the page to a new list of words for my students – expunge, bequeath, cogent, supercilious – and then put them through the paces of the exercises that come in their books hoping that a few of the words…

Our former foster daughter came to Durham this weekend because she is hurting and needed to be cared for. The only words I can find tonight belong to Patty Griffin and her song, “When It Don’t Come Easy” because it is such a tangible description of what love is: “if you break down, I’ll drive…

saturday night at ben and jerry’sthey were the only ones in the placebeside the two behind the counterthey could be identified bythe flavors they had ordered:peanut and banana greek yogurtnew york super fudge chunkchocolate with sprinklesjimmy fallon’s late night snackbut that doesn’t tell the whole storythere’s also the flavor of painone lost her husband not…

My little school is imploding. I have much the same feeling as I did when I worked in my first restaurant which was a small tea house owned by a woman who had always wanted to own a restaurant, so she found an empty space, took out a second mortgage, spent a lot of money,…

This is the first day this week I have not had to go to the computer store to work a shift after my day at school. This is also the morning I got up earlier than usual (4:30) to take Ginger to the airport to go help out a friend who recently suffered a minor…

One of the classes I’m teaching this semester is European History. How that came about is a story of its own that is still unfolding, but it’s also a story for another night. When they asked (and by asked I mean told) me I was teaching the class, I fashioned the course around twentieth century…

Tonight, I am keeping my discipline with the help of an old friend whom I know only through his words. Still, he is one I turn to on nights like this when I can’t find words of my own. These are words I have come  to before. Join me; there is comfort here. I Am…

I don’t remember how old I was, but I was young enough that my dad was able to beat my brother and me to the punch. “Boys,” he said with that this-is-how-it’s-going-to-be-don’t-even-think-about-it tone in his voice, “we can talk about most anything, but you can never have a motorcycle.” He gave good reasons. He had…

Ginger preached from the lectionary passage this morning. Here’s what I brought home. “you are the light of the world” I know were talking about the difference between daylight and dark however you of all peopleought to be able to make room for a little poetic licenseI know about the darkbut today when Iheard your…

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.   “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. (Matt. 26:40) connection driving home from work tonight I saw the moon – or at least all it was willing to show tonightarriving late as wellalmost ten o’clock and hardly above the…