She was definitely a multi-tasker. My wife and I were sitting at her cubicle awaiting our appointment, and the multiple-lit blinking phone was indicating others were waiting as well. “Excuse me,” she said as we were seated, whereupon she picked up the phone, punched a button, apologized to the person on the other end of […]
To Ponder
Letter: It Was Perfect
This year was the first time our family’s traditional search for The Perfect Christmas Tree was held without her. I lost my wife to cancer on the first day of spring. For fifty years, The Perfect Christmas Tree my wife selected was – always – in the very farthest reaches of the acres and acres […]
Join the Midwinter Revels
In December of 1994 Peggy and I attended the first Tacoma Midwinter Revels at the Rialto Theater in Tacoma. It was more than just “watch and listen” entertainment . . . much more. I don’t recall if we participated in the final presentation, or if the whole theatre simply became the entertainers and sang, and […]
Advent Calendar December 13: Winter Walks
Taking a walk is some wonderful exercise, anytime. But during winter, it is something that is a bit taxing as well. We have to layer us against cold and rain (if not snow), and the time window we have is narrow, as the days are so short. But once we are outdoors, it is extremely […]
Letter: Looking Back the Way We Came
I love to wander but I am not lost. I love to wonder but I already know the answer. I wonder about life and its purpose. There’s something about loving the one who has been for so long so precious, and then losing her, that forces us – me anyway – to contemplate what difference […]
Advent Calendar December 12: Christmas Cards
Have you written all your Christmas mail already? Maybe even received one or the other card yourself and placed it on a sideboard or a mantlepiece? If you haven’t sent out your cards yet, there’s still a little time. Think about the joy a card chosen with care will create with the recipient. Nobody expects […]
Advent Calendar December 11: Christmas Markets
Has anybody of you ever been to a European-style Christmas market? One that is built like a small town of cozy huts decorated to the nines and located in a town center, not inside a building? It was one of my annual joys to go see the small-town ones around my native town of Stuttgart, […]
Letter: Even If
“She’ll never graduate from high school. Never get married. There will be no more birthdays or Christmases. She died.” I was doorbelling for my campaign for the school board and the fellow uttering these words was angry for soon as I mentioned “school” that was his trigger. He had lost his young daughter. He was […]
Advent Calendar December 10: Caroling
What would Christmas be without music? Without singing? I’m not talking the untimely endless-loops in supermarkets and craft stores that start playing way too early in the year in order to remind us to consume in time for the holidays. I’m talking about taking up an instrument and playing it with friends or family or […]