Camp friends

Here at the Glen I’m listening and talking all the time. In and out of class, particularly out of class. They’re the conversations one had at 3 a.m. in college, that shift from mysteries-of-the-universe profound, to profoundly silly, then over into practical problem-solving, and back around again. Except we have them all day… and into […]

Overlay

It was foolhardy, but since I made it back I’ll talk about it. Foolhardy: I hiked alone; I set out in the afternoon during Santa Fe’s monsoon season; I wore Chuck Taylors (flat-soled, slightly slick). Since I’m here to write this, it all ended well in the end. Besides, I wanted it badly: to move, […]

Things I didn’t learn from the East

Fill up every time you can, whether with water or car-fuel. Blooming where you’re planted is sometimes just not going to happen. There are a lot more ways to dress for coolth than just to cut the sleeves and legs off things. Pace matters. And matters more at some times of day than others. Subtlety […]

kid primary

Maybe this time I can start to wrap some (more?) words around this strand I keep tugging at. Yesterday I ran across this article: http://www.elle.com/culture/news/a46877/motherhood-is-rotten-for-a-womans-self-esteem-heres-how-we-can-make-it-better/ which includes: Some of the self-esteem dip found among mothers of young children is an inevitable byproduct of taking on something as demanding, and life-altering, as having a child. It […]

Immediate results

“Bonhoeffer did not expect immediate results. He died probably assuming his life had been a failure. We don’t see it like that. The distinction between being faithful and being effective isn’t an absolute one’ they’re actually the same thing in different time scales.” https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2015-07/what-bonhoeffer-knew I booked thirty minutes with a friend the other day and […]

Knit together

Massage fascinates me. Sure, the benefits stare one in the face. Back when I swam 3 times a week at 3000+ yards a pop, every-other-week massages were as central to my 30+-year-old physical well-being as eating plenty of protein. If someone else didn’t work the kinks out, my body would coil in on itself like […]

Vagary and stability

Even before my 49th birthday, I thought about “‘aging in place:” how and whether transportation options, community, home structure, etc. support our getting frailer while staying in this same place. Ever since my grandson was born, people ask me whether we’ll be moving closer to where he lives. Or if they don’t know of Baby […]

Oh, right, there’s not a mole

The mole is the unit of amount in chemistry. … A mole of a substance is defined as: The mass of substance containing the same number of fundamental units as there are atoms in exactly 12.000 g of 12C. Fundamental units may be atoms, molecules, or formula units, depending on the substance concerned. The Mole—Chemistry […]

Being is easy…

…but doing is more explainable.   When I woke 2/3 of the way this morning, my Austin Seminary T-shirt was front of mind. I picked it up from the Admissions office at the end of spring term, faithfully promising to wear it far from Austin. When I promise, I commit, and I have worn the […]

The Thinker / William Carlos Williams

My wife’s new pink slippers have gay pom-poms. There is not a spot or a stain on their satin toes or their sides. All night they lie together under her bed’s edge. Shivering I catch sight of them and smile, in the morning. Later I watch them descending the stair, hurrying through the doors and […]