Category Archives: Uncategorized

The invitation comes:Close your eyes to breathe,to arrive, as Buddhist monks, step by step, walk into thenation’s capital 110 days aftersetting out on their 2,300-mile journey for peace. Some daysI wish that I had not arrivedat this too-tender spot, my … Continue reading →

Though they appear spontaneousto onlookers, pop-up music happeningsrequire a fair amount of planningand set-up. Music stands and sound equipment, tympani,euphoniums and baritone saxesmust be transported across campusto the library—a lot of work for a mini concert by a jazz bandand … Continue reading →

I am like every boy kid whoraces outside when he hearsa siren, hoping to catch a glimpseof the huge red truck zooming by. Though in my case, I am a bonafideoldster who leapt up from the computerlike a much younger … Continue reading →

(In memory of Margery Thompson) On the last day, before your daughterturned your house over to people whowould go through every drawer, as we had, pull out everything saleablefrom closets and cupboards, assignvalue to each item, then donate or throw … Continue reading →

…my whole selfsaying and singing what it knew… —Denise Levertov from “Variations on a Theme By Rilke” ••• At the endmay my whole self rise saying and singingwhat it knew after a life in whichI mostly did not know or … Continue reading →

To see the sea run from clear aquato darker turquoise to genuine navy. To watch it grow storm cloud gray,then blacken like cooled lava. To have the genuine birds’ eye view,the top-down perspective of below, the one rowing, anchor at … Continue reading →

And for a moment, looking at this photo,I feel whatever part of me that travelswithout my body wander into wonder, transfixed by the symmetry of concretepillars topped with soothing arches.But it doesn’t look like the I-80 I know. And then … Continue reading →

Janis Ian (who spells her first namethe “correct” way, according to the woman who gave it to me) sang that shelearned the truth at 17. I believe her. But, at 67, this Janis is 17 again—another odd truth. For instance, … Continue reading →

Gratitude is the confidence in life itself. In it, we feel how the same force that pushes grass through cracks in the sidewalk invigorates our own life. —Jack Kornfield ••• The essence that nudges tiny green bitsupward, searching for light … Continue reading →

Start close in,don’t take the second stepor the third,start with the firstthingclose in,the stepyou don’t want to take.—David Whyte(from “Start Close In”) ••• At first it is lending a hand when sheneeds to take the small step up a curb. … Continue reading →