Just finished reading Ed O’Keefe’s Washington Post story on the ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda honoring Billy Graham. The only statement in the report to be understood with simplicity, as a young child would think —that Graham died on February 21 at his home in Montreat North Carolina. The rest is surface for layers…
It is gray and raining today, with perhaps a visitation of wet snow later in the morning. Weather extremes herald the approach of spring. The tilt of the earth provides incremental warming to us in the northern hemisphere–the slide begins to the awaited growing season. Natures rhythm is beneficent, a solace that we depend…
Wednesday morning. It is the morning after another interesting, passionately discussed topic: panpsychism. Sounds esoteric, and implausible on its face: that mind might be a component of all of reality, from the sand flea, no, lets start even more basic, with the electron. How about reciprocity of rudimentary awareness between a single electron and…
The visit to my home town has concluded. Three days were allocated to spend time with my disabled sister, and to visit with my brother. Those three days are also filled with memories of the person that I was when I was a child in Durham. There are also the years in my mid-twenties…
Yesterday, we went to Ninth Street to visit the Regulator Book Shop. It is a small independent place, offering a collection of books appealing to the literary community anchored by Duke University. Many of the older homes in the area have been re-purposed for small business use. The big old tobacco warehouse in the…
Another day in North Carolina. I cannot escape the memories that attend a visit to the Durham area. I grew up in Bragtown just off of Roxboro Road a few minutes from this Holiday Inn. We walked down main street last night and marveled at the massive transformation underway in the old downtown area….
Arriving yesterday in Raleigh-Durham we deplaned into seventy-five degree sunny weather. Today will be the same. It is February the 23, and this is winter? I know that weather is not climate. Climate is what we call those more or less stable patterns governed by the jet stream, ocean currents, and probably much else…
Sunday, in the Judeo-Christian tradition is the “day of rest.” That still means generally that the seventh day of the week is purposed for rest and refreshment. I tend to seek a change in my normal daily routine, enjoy spending time out of doors, and in conversation with my wife. Both of us are…
I had an awful dream in the early morning hours. I was with others swimming, enjoying a calm pond; the water was warm, I felt family and friends were close by. In the distance a rickety old building stood on the shore of the pond. The kid in me has always been curious, so…
Today is Fat Tuesday, tomorrow is Lent, a season of abstinence. I was not raised Catholic, but I understand the logic of deprivation as preparation for newness, the emergence of new life. The truth is ancient, predating the Christian era. That’s the dynamic of life, of reality, of Nature, and the arc of human…
