This afternoon, on the way back from lunch, I tossed my purse on the back seat of the car next to Kim. She glanced down at it and said, “I like your purse! That’s cute!” I laughed, because when I think about that purse—in any sense other than to pick it up and carry it around with me—I immediately think […]
Lean In
I was nearly a coward last evening. I told myself I didn’t want to go because I was tired, because I hadn’t unpacked yet, because I needed to write. But really, I didn’t want to lean in. *** I attended Hutchmoot this past weekend. In past years I’ve drunk from the fire hose of wisdom, laughter, and delight and found […]
Kamikaze Squirrels and Zinzi’s Cat
I drive through a quiet neighborhood on my way to work. This morning I was forced to drive it like a mad woman, dodging squirrels right and left that jumped out from the side of the road that ran across in front of me. They scooted by as my tires rolled through the leaves scudding across the road. One had […]
Moments
I tried to keep my eyes open for something today, something that would trigger a long-past memory. Instead, at every turn, the memories brought to the fore were all recent, remnants of full days with good friends. So, a few glimpses: *** The voices singing a hymn this morning from the opening of Bible study at church reminded me of […]
A Favorite View
There’s a spot along the North Carolina/Tennessee border where the mountains grow more angular, as if they’ve sucked in their breath. Their spines arch across the sky and all their rib bones show under their skin of trees. I’ve decided it’s my favorite view on the drive to Nashville. Evidently I’ve driven that route enough times to feel like a […]
The Birth of a Song
[Editorial note: I’m kinda breaking my own rules for the #write31days challenge today; this one isn’t an sight or moment that recalls a memory, but just the moment itself—the anecdote was too good to dilute by tying it to another memory. I’ll blame Jonathan Rogers, who asked the other day why I need to connect the moments to memories (I […]
Kneading
I spent an hour or so this afternoon crushing graham crackers. If you’ve never done it, crushing graham crackers is harder than it looks. I will blame the shortness of this post on my tired hands that don’t want to type, rather than on the fact that I’m plumb tuckered out. There was no rolling pin and only flimsy plastic […]
Backdrop
I’ve spent a significant portion of the past two days sitting in a sanctuary at a church in Nashville which I can only describe as “warm.” It is a building which seems to stretch its arms out in welcome. The older parts of it are made of wood that holds the patina of the years. In the sanctuary itself, a […]
Seasons
I drove into the North Carolina mountains today and watched the beginning of autumn as I did so. Green maples tipped with red, birches shading to gold. The speckles of the light shining through the green canopy. Here and there and evergreen staying strong, Remaining what it was. Forever. When I was in college, we took a trip to the […]
Exchange
In our study this week, my Bible study group looked at the passage in Romans that says, “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25). I wrote a note in the margin of my book: Jane Eyre. I adore the novel Jane Eyre. I have multiple copies and […]