I Do Love Freedom

I am not exactly what anyone would call patriotic.  I’m grateful for the privileges I have as an American, and much of American culture – especially the folksy parts – I adore. But the flag-waving, America above all stuff . . . yeah, that’s...

Learning to Just Be Near

She wants the beautiful thing. She wants to eat. – from “The Grackle on the Lawn” by Eloise Klein Healy I open the little coop door with the ramp first. . . . “Morning, birdies.  Morning.” Then, I swing wide the large door and walk...

The Indigo of Home

As we crested the hill, I saw them – the tumbling layers of the Blue Ridge – smoky indigo against the pink sky of the setting sun.  Home. We had spent the day with good friends at a barbecue and then at the Relay For Life, where my dad had formed a team to...