key change I grew up singing in church hymns haunted by harmony what a fellowship what a joy ye who are weary come home those songs taught me that congregations are contagious that love is highly infectious and compassion communicable singing they say spreads the virus our deep comfort commandeered into the forced unison of…
air and water it is a postcard night in our little town the honey-pink sunset riding in on the breeze I followed the schnauzers home from our walk to find a security guard was shot to death at a Family Dollar Store in Flint, Michigan because he asked someone to put a mask on to…
daily digest these are the stay close to home dig in the dirt string up the lights I planned to string years ago days the work from home walk the dogs again wear a mask to the store go too long without a hug days the go to bed tired try to remember what day…
maybe it doesn’t get better you may not have read past the title but hear me out– we can’t do what we are doing just because we think this won’t last and we can get back to the way things were maybe it doesn’t get better I know– I already said that but what if…
The seed of this post was planted when I sent a friend a video of Jason Isbell and the $00 Unit singing “24 Frames” from isolation. As I mentioned last night, he is one of my favorite songwriters. The title of the song refers to the number of frames that go through a projector per…
When I lived in Texas, I loved the annual art show put on by the bluebonnets across fields and highway medians; it is one of the most beautiful sights I know. They are long gone by now. April in Texas is early summer. In New England, we are still wearing our coats. The daffodils and…
The subtitle to David Whyte’s book Consolations is The Solace, Nourishment, and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words. One of the words he unpacks is Istanbul. Though it makes me want to go find my They Might Be Giants CDs, I have never thought of Istanbul–the city or the word–as everyday. Ginger and I got to go…
Two of the great unexplained shortages of our unfortunate isolation is flour and yeast. For some reason, everyone decided not only that they wanted to bake bread, but that they needed enough yeast to last until early 2025. Bread is one of those things you don’t just decide to make. I am quick to say…
One of the ironies of my life is that I am married to a woman named Ginger who does not, for the most part, like ginger–except when it comes in a good ginger molasses cookie. When i think of ginger cookies, I think of ginger snaps with the spice and the crunch, but I am…
I finished the Gospel of Mark in the new translation by David Bentley Hart. I also finished a chapter in Tragic Sense of Life by Miguel de Unamuno, which was written in 1912 and translated by J. E. Crawford Flitch. The two translations are a century apart and aimed at two different purposes, but they…