Every few days, a new word will be posted at the top of this post as a daily writing prompt. The description of this practice follows the most recent prompt, and previous prompts are listed at the bottom of the description. Clicking on the photo will also link you to a video also describing this […]
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Many years ago, my daily bus commute crossed the Mississippi River on the old Lake Street bridge. Then almost 100 years old, the quarter-mile bridge connecting St. Paul and Minneapolis was a wrought iron structure built well before the invention of the automobile. And one day, engineers inspecting the bridge’s integrity, determined it could no […]
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Rhythms of Resilience I’m watching for the first delicate crocuses to break through the hardened crust of the March ground. Yellow, purple and white, their short blooms open like small cups of sunlight. But by night, the delicate blossoms close up, waiting until dawn coaxes them to yawn agape again. Their daily opening and closing […]
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My grandfather knew how to keep time moving. Head bent over the wooden jeweler’s bench at the back of his jewelry store and peering through a small magnifying loop attached to his glasses, he repaired watches. He patiently disassembled gears and springs, then putting them back together so they could once again keep time. In this […]
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My friend Leena once brought me a gift from a trip to her family’s homeland in Myanmar – a small seated figure carefully carved in rosewood with great attention to his hatted face, robe and bare feet. But when Leena retrieved the figure from her suitcase after the long flight home, she discovered the wood […]
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As we enter the season of candlelit wonder and awe, I have been considering what reverence means. Is it reverence that stirs when we sing “Silent Night” by candlelight? Was it reverence, in the ancient story two millennia ago, that brought shepherds and kings to their knees before a poor and homeless baby born in […]
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More than anything, perhaps, the Thanksgiving holiday is marked by messes large and small. Travelers by the millions stalled in airports and on highways. Kitchens from coast to coast piled up with pots and dishes. And some of the biggest messes of all, inside human hearts, anticipating or already experiencing the challenges of gathering across […]
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