A few photographs capture the memory of a day of being out and about in the wine country of Michigan. Everyone gets to be a child again while on vacation. We will not forget the time spent at Bumbelberry Acres picking blueberrys, and the visit to the petting zoo. We heard the story of…
Heard this tune played on the radio yesterday, I’ve heard it many times before. This time it rocked me, “knocked me out”. That’s an expression of the impact of a tune and lyric on my sense of space and time. Music can do that. It’s a matter of serendipity of timing: the right time…
Mother’s Day becomes more important to me as the years pass. Thanksgiving and Mother’s Day are my top contenders for excellent holidays. Those are solitary days dedicated to showing gratitude. Both holidays stand as reminders of how much of my life depends upon the good graces of others, acts of kindness, of solicitude that…
In Japan many homes have a feature that is called in direct translation, a god-shelf, or kami-dana in Japanese. This feature, a wooden shelf placed in a wall niche, is used for placement of pictures of the deceased, and on occasion a burning candle, and food offering. I thought this odd when I lived…
Comment was made in the course of our discussion of the Iliad, of the great cultural differences in the late-bronze age status of women, and that of our own time, three millennia in the future. Consider the character of Briseis, taken and given as a spoil of war to Achilles consequent to the razing…
Our grand daughter was laid to rest day before yesterday. She passed three weeks before she was due to be born. There is a cause which we most certainly will never know. There is no reason that she died. She was loved intensely and nothing was left undone to prepare for her coming into…
It is unusual for me to leave you behind for any reason. When I crossed the Ohio River on the new toll bridge leaving Louisville, I felt deeply why I needed to leave you behind. For the first time I felt our family; how substantial, how strong it has become. We grieved for our…
There is nothing more terrible, and more truthful than a mother weeping for her stillborn child. Words absolutely fail to convey anything of the meaning of the experience. One observes and understands nothing of what is happening. To weep is a natural, appropriate response to death, the passage of something or someone who is…
The quotes from Guevara are mind bending. As a source of insight, Che Guevara is considered by many to be a stone-cold-killer, an enemy of all social order. The quote indicates that he was anything but stone-cold, and that he was an advocate of a particular kind of order. Wait, is that a hand…
Our daughter and her partner are expecting a baby girl. Kai is to be born in January. I am awed that the child is to bear my mothers name as her middle name. My mother was a extraordinarily courageous and kind woman. She would have been greatly honored to have her name given to…
