As a girl growing up in a neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts called Squantum, my mother watched her grandfather, Thomas ‘Grampie’ Murch, sew up a hole in his galoshes. This was pretty much impossible to do, she said, as the overshoes were made of thick rubber. Still, her very frugal grandparent “made do” by repairing rather… Continue Reading Make it do. Do without.
The longest-lasting rainbow was recorded in Taipei, Taiwan on November 30, 2017. Scientific observers tracked it for 9 hours. The previous record, I believe was for 3 hours in Wales. Hmm. But if a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it? There are probably longer lasting rainbow – just unobserved. Here’s what… Continue Reading Attitude opens the aperture
Horrifying… revenge. The epigraph to ‘Anna Karenina’ – a book I read every few years – is biblical and equally unnerving: Vengeance is mine, I will repay. (Romans 12:19) Revenge is so intimate. Think of the bully whose face you see in your nightmare – up close and reprehensible. Fear, loathing and, of course,… Continue Reading Racoon revenge
Happy New Year. My daily diary is a perpetual kind simply titled Spiritual Diary. Each day provides an inspirational quote primarily from Paramahansa Yogananda’s writings. For many years (decades in some cases) I’ve made cryptic entries along with noting the year, day of the week and location of my entry. Throw open the portals was… Continue Reading Throw open the portals!
On Twitter we can (and do) encounter many things – banal, outrageous, bland, horrifying and uplifting. I am not into the first four categories but the uplifting ones ride high on my horizon. Here’s one by a Jake Parker: “My boy Calvin taught us all a lesson here in the Parker home: In our narrow… Continue Reading “You are in my way so I will hug you.”
Such a provocative line from Helen Burke’s poem about her auntie’s dog, the ‘black as black can be’ Flossie. Flossie, you see, will whisper the names of the fallen creatures that the boys shoot during their hunt. Poignancy comes to life in contrast with cruelty. A birds falls from a nest. Another flutters into… Continue Reading someone should whisper the names of the fallen ones…
“Winston was always a lover of animals – he even reportedly said one Christmas dinner ‘you carve [the goose] Clemmie, he was a friend of mine’” I didn’t expect this from Churchill. So humanizing. He walked right up to me with this quote. And, now, into this blog space. This remark was posted by… Continue Reading Winston Churchill – A Twitter encounter
Yes, I’ve fallen a day behind. Yesterday is gone and today is approaching noon and the sun will lower itself in the sky for evening to take the stage. I cannot imagine how I lost the day. This may the last time – the final moment in my conscious existence – that I mention “falling… Continue Reading I’ve Fallen A Day Behind
“I found an easier way to be.” I copied this line onto a yellow sticky pad weeks ago and finally tore it off the page, managing it into a slender strip. Now the quote lives inside my cellphone cover where dollar bills spend time, waiting. During one of my financial withdrawals I re-read this and… Continue Reading “I found an easier way to be…”
And a happy birthday to my sister. Here she is at her first wedding. Today is her birthday and I texted her a Happy Birthday well-wish – unadorned except for a heart – and she responded a plain, ‘Thanks.’ Even if I’d followed this response with chit-chat I doubt that more about her day, her… Continue Reading 11 December, a Monday