• Darkness - Difficulty - Hope - Safety - This really happened.

    The open spaces & the river.

    March 22, 2023 - By 

    When I was seven years old, I won an award at Girl Scout camp for fire building. We were, with fire pits all lined up in a row, supposed to build a fire that would catch quickly, (a one-match fire as the cool kids used to say), rise quickly, and burn through a length of rope that was suspended several feet above. Let me repeat — I was seven years old.  Some people are naturals at downhill skiing or card games. I seem to have a natural ability in building fires. I found this recently, I don’t know the author:…

  • Being Human - Blessings - Darkness - Difficulty - Family - Fear - Hope - Light - Loss - Safety - This really happened.

    The Fire and the Roses

    September 14, 2017 - By 

    Eleven years ago we were getting ready to leave the house for the first seder at Jane’s house. Russ was just finishing the mowing of the lawn, our table was set with china and crystal for the next evening at our house. I heard a crackling sound coming from the kitchen. I knew that I wasn’t cooking that evening…so as I entered the kitchen I saw about a foot of smoke undulating at the ceiling above the door to the garage. I went outside and found the wall between the house and the garage aflame. Quick-thinker that I am, I…

  • Blessings - Safety - This really happened.

    My Uber driver kissed me and it wasn’t even creepy.

    May 15, 2016 - By 

    I wasn’t looking for drama.   I really wasn’t. But that morning they left me at the table, reading the paper.  I finished the puzzle. I did the Jumble.   Took me almost no time at all. It was a good day. I pushed away from the table and stood up, putting all my weight on my right foot — not realizing that I could not feel it and that my foot had dropped….and stepped onto the top surface of my foot, upside down.    I heard a crack. I screamed. I threw myself onto the couch, elevating my foot.…

  • Blessings - Childhood - Family - Hope - Light - Loss - Safety

    The Gathering and The Safety of the Burrito

    May 9, 2015 - By 

    I woke to a dream where I was on the street in twilight. With my little child.   A son or a daughter, perhaps. The sky was losing light. The day had been long. It was much too late to be out with such a baby – it was time to be home. But this one had their arms up in the air and was crying, “book, book”. “up, up.” We were outside the library. Its doors closed to the day. “Book, book”. They cried. There was the memory and allure of story time – a part of a perfect morning…

  • Being Human - Blessings - Darkness - Difficulty - Hope - Light - Safety - This really happened. - Travelling

    The Lost Mariners and Almost Missing Maui

    April 26, 2015 - By 

    I heard the most amazing story. There was a cruise ship – and a Greek captain – and two mariners. And some passengers. But I think the star of this story is a thing that is not on any map. More on that later. There is a cruise ship – and it is sailing North towards Hawaii. One morning one passenger gets up early, as he loves to do on these trips. He gets up at five – and consults the map.   He finds that the ship is not headed North at all. It has done an about-face…..it is heading South.…

  • Being Human - Blessings - Darkness - Difficulty - Family - Fear - Hope - Light - Loss - Safety

    Chaos, Kindness & The Flood of Garlic.

    October 25, 2014 - By 

    To write this, I wrote it five times — and then a sixth.  It was still a mess. I printed it out and with my green pen. I scratched out everything. Well, almost everything — so I could start again. I haven’t been able to think straight – too much on my mind.  I needed a little something. Then I woke this morning thinking of garlic. If you use a little garlic it is amazing.  It adds that special something to everything you eat.  It is almost magical the way it transforms a dish. For some, garlic is their favorite…

  • Being Human - Childhood - Fear - Hope - Safety

    We’d like to put you in a home.

    August 19, 2014 - By 

    When I was a little girl, I always thought I would live near Chicago. It had never, in fact, occurred to me that any one of us might leave. But then, for me, there was California and then Missouri – Georgia and now Wisconsin. Finding a home and making a home has become very important to me. It might be also for many people. My friend’s nine-year old daughter continued to look at houses on zillow.com, for hours at a time– for three months after they had already moved. Was she still looking for a place to belong? A hundred…

  • Childhood - Darkness - Fear - Light - Safety

    The Worst Thing That Could Happen

    August 4, 2014 - By 

    When I was a little girl living near Chicago, I imagined that the worst thing that could happen would be if a tornado hit my school. Several times during the school year our principal would get on the loudspeaker and announced “Operation Ajax” — which meant that we would line up at the door and proceed into the hallway where there were no windows — sitting against the walls with our heads between our knees — our arms protecting our necks against potential flying glass. As it happened, my school was never actually hit by a tornado. A few years…