What had begun as a crystal clear early morning with stars twinkling in the still dark sky, and as red and white bow lights flashed on the other rowing shells moved silently on the dark surface of the water, the morning dissolved into a thick and impenetrable fog. And what had begun so idealistically, romantically, […]
Letter: A Lesson from the Autumn Leaves
My favorite season of the year to row is Autumn. Sometimes with others, most often alone. Boat traffic on the lake is minimal; the trees along the shoreline are resplendent in color; not a sound is heard but the rhythmic splash of the oars and my labored breathing; and eventually the green-become-red and yellow leaves […]
Letter: We Rowed Together
For most people, no doubt the vast majority, World River Day, the fourth Sunday of every September, passed by as unnoticed as the headwaters of a quiet stream slipped by in a forest no one was frequenting anyway. But what a metaphor for life. Did my grandson want to watch from the dock as I […]
Letter: Taking Shelter
It rained this past March 31. I remember because it was the day we laid my wife to rest. We huddled together at the graveside. In part because of the rain. In part to be close. The tears fell like the gentle shower that gathered in pools atop the canopy and spilled over the edge. […]
Letter: Awake! Awake!
It is a cry for help. A supplication from the depths of despair, a pouring out of grief even as the skies pour down an onslaught of side-ways driven rain. When? When will there be peace for this troubled heart? And where? Where will I find love again following so great a loss? The appeal […]
Letter: She Said ‘Yes’
The ocean – with its crashing waves and mournful fog horn; and the quiet harbor, where we snuggled together on the porch of our little rental cottage, cradling our early morning brew, coffee for me, cocoa for her – is irresistible. So was she. It was the whole cross-the-crowded-room first glimpse that became a second […]
Letter: The End of the Day
Today she has been gone but six months. And this evening, as with most evenings, I will return again to our quiet place by the lake. Sometimes finding myself bewildered and anxious, I have discovered that here my soul grows still. Unsettled and weary, I lay aside my garden tools as the evening draws on, […]
Letter: Spellbound
Pliny the Elder, Roman author, naturalist, and navy and army commander of the early Roman Empire (AD 23), called this flower enchanted, magical, charming, because it was believed that evil spells had no effect where it grew. Now I know why it has made an appearance almost overnight in our family flower garden. Here we […]
Letter: “Beautiful and Glorious”
My best guess, after researching pine trees, is that this little volunteer sprout is all of five months old, given it is but four inches tall. Five months ago, even as this little pine tree wannabe would germinate in the spring, I lost my wife to cancer. Her oncologist said it was inevitable. They’d done […]