I clapped along with the others as employees were recognized for their outstanding leadership over the past year. Bouquets were presented, pictures taken, hugs, smiles, and laughter predominated. Among the last to head in the direction others had gone to partake of refreshments, I noticed a single flower on the tile floor. Absentmindedly I picked […]
Letter: It’s All Happening At The Zoo
I graduated from high school in 1968. The year before, 1967, Simon and Garfunkel wrote “At the Zoo.” In all my years of education I don’t remember ever having gone to the zoo. But on this past Friday, May 3, I went to the zoo with the kiddos from my very own Tillicum Elementary School […]
Letter: Why Flowers Are A Necessity, Not A Luxury
Why do you think flowers are found in the wild, sprinkled in meadows on mountain sides as if an expert gardener had flung them everywhere, to be borne far and wide on the wind, multiplied seeds of myriad varieties? And why do we with such delight discover the fragile denizens of the forest, shyly sheltered […]
Letter: Mother’s Day – Hands Reveal the Heart
“Hands in!” the coach will holler. The four-and-five-year olds will huddle, scrunched together – after all their arms are not very long – and little fingers will drape over those of their teammates awaiting last-minute pre-game instructions. Instructions like, “what do we do when we hit the ball?” “Run to first!” all shout in unison. […]
Letter: How the Story Ends
When Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis conceived the TV series entitled “Once Upon A Time,” it was rejected by the networks as “too fantastic.” Their 2004 idea, which despite criticisms would eventually become reality on ABC in 2011, was to interrupt the stories long ago told of many fictional fairy tale characters – among them Snow […]
A ‘Just-Because’ Love
Did you get flowers yesterday, the first of May, the day traditionally recognized, among other things of course, for love? You thought you had heard the doorbell ring but, not sure – maybe it was after all your imagination – you delayed answering and, too late, discovered the flowers – but not the source – […]
Letter: Today
Today is the first day of the month of May, a day of ancient, more recent, and in many cases forgotten seasonal celebrations, among them May Basket Day. Traditionally, in the instance of someone in love and to express romantic interest, flowers were arranged in a basket, or perhaps watering can, and placed at the […]
Letter: The Wheels on the Bus
They hadn’t been traveling together long, the school bus driver and her aide, but what the two struck up a friendship. If it were the first day of school, the two women – the driver and her aide – would smile and wait patiently as children posed for a picture on the porch by mom […]
Letter: Still Watching Over Me
Fifty years ago I accidentally locked the keys to our honeymoon Volkswagen bug in the car. The problem was our car was on the ferry and we were supposed to be first off but of course now we are holding up traffic. I guess my mind was elsewhere. Similar was what happened this morning: […]