The Greatest Christmas Gift Ever!
I write my Christmas letter this year to you, Jesus. I could write a sanitized, incomplete letter, telling family and friends of all the “good” and leaving out all the “bad”. You know—the usual letters of trips taken, accomplishments made, how proud we are of our children and their marriages and babies. You know, Jesus, […]
Can Hope be Born Again?
Our home is filled with Christmas lights. And nightlights. We don’t have little kids anymore and I’m not afraid of the dark. So why all the nightlights? Well, because I’ve stubbed and broken my toes too many times stumbling around in the dark trying to find my way . . . to the bathroom. That’s […]
Beauty Marks
Give thanks. In all things. I’m spending much time these days confessing. I’m confessing that I haven’t been giving thanks—in all things—always. When I confess my failure, I am agreeing with God. And when I agree with God, change for the better can begin in me. That’s the whole point of confessing, I believe. Not to […]
Into the Wood
After our long walk on the ledge, Todd and I meandered along the inner wood trails—the guts of the forest. Nearly naked they were, the trees having shed their garments of leaves, bare and vulnerable facing winter winds and snow blankets coming. Earth floor carpeted in dry and dead, I dragged my feet because I […]
Beautiful Dying
Here on the farm the dying has begun. And dying can be quite beautiful, actually. Brilliant dogwood flaming red, yellowing aspens and birch, sugar maples blazing orange—all stand center stage against blue sky backdrop. Because they’re dying. They’re bleeding out green, being replaced with orange, red, yellow. Those turning are not exactly more beautiful—just a […]
Tree of Life
I knew there was something special about her, the first time I saw her standing solitaire on that grassy bluff a year ago. She fascinated me, maybe more than the grizzlies across the Shelikof Strait from her, stuffing themselves on salmon as I stood not twenty feet away. Last September, I watched her blown about […]
When Life Hits Hard and You Wonder How to Hold On
A blur hangs over our farm. I think the sky is crying. Teardrops hang from pastures wired. Webbed strands dangle from spruce looking fragile. I know better. Appearances often deceive . . . What looks most fragile is most strong. Yet, I wonder. I think of myself—my whole life—especially these past twelve months. How […]
Joy and Suffering
Each summer, it seems, the thunderclouds roll in, all dark and full from the west, ready to burst. And they do. They are hovering and the rains will pour, again. Each summer, I feel the heaviness of August afternoon heat and humidity beating down. Too soon, weeds seem to have grown three feet, I swear, […]
Wake Up Call
What is it about husbands in the bedroom? Mine is trying my already frazzled nerves lately. First off, he’s a heavy sleeper and I’m not. So, to keep our togetherness in the bed, we both keep separate alarm clocks on our separate nightstands. My alarm clock is a little black box with soft, red, lighted […]
Unexpected Gifts
I walked the straight path with Rose, our two and a half year-old Labrador retriever. We headed toward the pond. As we approached the edge, I noticed an egg at the end of the pier, nestled between the last two wooden planks, sitting there solitary. Rose had already entered the pond, swimming with her rudder […]
Singing in the Rain (and Fog)
Will it never end? We’ve been living in a fog for so long I’ve lost count of the days. The ground is so saturated from rains I squish my way to the barn, thinking my front lawn has now become a bog. I feel like I’m starting to mold! We’re staring down July 4 a week away […]
A Field Trip to Remember
I picked her up at 4 PM sharp, that precious daughter of ours. Through all these past tough weeks of trying to stabilize thoughts and emotions, she went to work cleaning up others’ messes and just the plain old dirt that accumulates in life. At least the messes she cleans CAN be cleaned up. Some […]