We put up our Christmas tree tonight. Seventeen years of Christmases together and Ginger and I have some definite traditions and patterns. Since both of us have sinus issues with real trees, we’ve always had an artificial one. My job is to assemble the tree and string the lights, which always means we’re a day…
I spend a lot of my day at the restaurant getting ready. In kitchen jargon, we call it “prepping.” Much of what we have to prepare are the things we use everyday: sliced tomatoes and red onions for the burgers, thin sliced sweet onions for the onion rings, chopped romaine lettuce for the salads, the…
I was in and out of my car all day, running errands and hearing snippets about the confirmation hearings for Robert Gates to be Secretary of Defense. The language of both the questions and the answers had to do with winning and losing, with force and power, and with doing something quickly. After all, it’s…
I drove home tonight from a long day at work, thinking about the different qualities of waiting. What came to mind was a story I wrote several years ago. I’m not very practiced at fiction, but I’m proud of this story. If you will endulge me, here it is. __________________________ Waiting Room I do not…
I’m not sure if it was fifteen or sixteen Novembers ago that Ginger came home with an idea for Advent. She had been on staff at First Congregational Church in Winchester for a short time and, since I was trying to finish my master’s degree in English and teach fulltime, I had not gone to…
I have new glasses! My contact lenses are on back order, or so said the receptionist at Eye Health Services when I talked to her yesterday and convinced her that I needed to see my doctor to get a prescription for glasses so I could function in the world without squinting. On the way to…
I have several disconnected things on my mind, so here they are in no particular order. _______________________________ I got my first birthday-related piece of mail today: an invitation to join the AARP now that I am turning fifty. I am old enough to remember when AARP stood for the American Association of Retired Persons, but…
Advent is un-American. The malls have been decorated for Christmas since the day after Halloween and we are still days away from even beginning to wait for Christ to come. We, as Americans, are not really built to wait. We are accustomed to getting what we want when we want it. But there is more…
In the span of a day, I have gone from reveling in knowing that I am uniquely and wonderfully created in the image of God to feeling painfully in touch with my human limitations. I’m not speaking in metaphor here: I really hurt today. Mondays are my longest days at the kitchen. I get there…
Since she got back from sabbatical, Ginger has made a point of preaching on some difficult texts and topics, rather than simply choosing the Gospel reading from the lectionary. She has been doing a great job. This week, her text was “the last words of David.” Her choice of subject sent me back to chorus…