The Littlest of Treats
This morning after church, we visit the grocery store and let our daughters run to the very back where all the bins of “penny candy” sit. For just a few coins, they can pick out chocolates or taffy or jelly beans of any flavor. They fill a little bag, weigh it on the scale, and […]
The Single Moment
This week, I find a quote from Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. Borges states, “Every destiny, however long and complicated, essentially boils down to a single moment — the moment when a man knows, once and for all, who he is.” In a few weeks, I’ll begin to teach memoir writing again, and I’m asking […]
One Benefit of Imagining the Worst
This week, I learn that sometimes fear and imagining the worst motivates folks more than hope. Instead of putting up photos of your dream life, viewing photos of terrible situations (the opposite of what you hope for) motivates more powerfully, especially in terms of fitness and weight loss. Researchers wonder if the brain responds more […]
What We Let Ourselves Near
This morning, the Local Artist and I confess our problems with proximity. We’re on a health and weight loss journey together, and we realize we cannot let ourselves near the cupcakes and cookies without eating them all. “I’m just too weak,” she says. “Me too,” I say. “I have problems with proximity,” she says. “Exactly. […]
“Why are they wasting their time talking about me?” What Tom Bradley Thinks JoPa would Think of the Fuss
I’ve spent all day thinking about Joe Paterno. I’ve navigated my way through media vans, through tears, through crowds, through countless twitter updates. Even now, I’m watching the student-lined streets ready to erupt as the funeral procession begins. Then, I hear former coach Tom Bradley on the news say to a reporter that if Joe […]
Places You Can’t Reach Alone
Today I observe the way cats bathe each other. Cats know that some places you just can’t reach alone: behind the neck, way down the back, the shoulder blades. So one bathes the other. I’m watching Jack and Snowflake, and I realize that some places in my own heart I just can’t reach alone. I […]
Another Delay!
I notice this morning the beauty of delay. When you live in Central Pennsylvania, you receive early morning phone calls alerting you to delayed school openings (normally two glorious hours) due to icy roads. With a delay, my daughters have the time and space to think about what they really want for breakfast. With a […]
I Don’t Mind
Today, I don’t mind the Pennsylvania landscape. Our Little Sledding Hill The Big Wide World The wide space of it soothes the soul and brings you to the kind of simplicity you’ve wanted all your life. You settle down into it. My Snow Angel You find angels everywhere. Just over your shoulder, even, a […]
The Best Way to Wake Up: Pretend You’re Six Again
This morning–before my eyes open, before the cats clamor and fuss for food, and even before coffee–my daughters bounce and squeal on the bed. “You won’t believe it! You won’t believe it!” they giggle, urging me out of bed. “It snowed!” Snow in January They run to the window with eyes big. Their little bare […]
Where You Return
Today I remember an author who shaped my spirituality in my mid-twenties. During that deepest darkness of despair–when you’ve lost hope–certain written voices bring you home. Henri Nouwen’s Return of the Prodigal Son will always stand as that book that led the way Home. I pull the old book off the shelf and see the […]