One of my writers group sent out a prompt this morning: "Winter's coldest day..." My bay is frozen flat, and white with snow. In my youth I would have strapped on my skates... The scrape of metal on ice changes as I move. there's the soft shish of gliding on perfect smoothness, and the scrape…
Blurred by ice-then-snow-now, grass and tree and house and bay are rendered in the softest greys. Meteoric, a crow as black as space lands on a tailwind. Then another; black feathers plump and shudder off the snow. They strut like they own the place. Which today, they do. Neighbors' grand homestead, built out over decades…
I've been slurping up the "best trash cans of 2017" stories that most media organs pump out this time of year. Why? So I can muse about 2017 without thinking too much about reality in America. You haven't seen "Greatest Hits of the 115th Congress," have you? As indulgent as they may seem, this NYT…
The simple sentences from these grieving parents touched me like poems. From The Daily 360° from nytimes.com Miguel: I've had a lot of problems on the water and the land. I recently lost my daughters... I used to think only of fish when I came out here. Now I see my daughter's faces in the…
Farewell my Princess I wish this awesome girl hero had come along when I was even younger- but even in college years she was inspiring. When did we ever see such a kick ass heroine in space? Leia opened the door for Ellen Ripley of Aliens, Captain Janeway, even Buffy. [BREAKING NEWS: DEBBIE REYNOLDS DIES, 1 DAY…
Dear Readers, Since the election on November 8 I have started and bailed on 4 posts, unable to wrap my head/thoughts/words around the election of the 45th president. I'm going to do my best to weave those aborted essays into something coherent, so I can move on. Here's Part 1. The verse is from a poem by…
Sometimes one piece of art stops me in my tracks with it's inescapable beauty and truth. Here's one. Pixar, the studio that brought us Toy Story, Up!, Finding Nemo and so much more, has released a new short that's a luminous paean to memory, grief and love. "Borrowed Time" is an animated short film, directed by…
How do we learn to live with people who aren't like us? Mahzarin Benaji researches unconscious bias at Harvard. She discussed her fascinating and important research this week on the podcast On Being. Dr. Benaji uses the word "implicit" instead of “unconscious,” because of "the implication that the unconscious is this incredibly motivated, smart process that is constantly trying to do things…
“You have to not-turn to anger, not-turn to resentment.” That advice comes from a man who spent 26 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, to kids who find themselves entangled in the juvenile justice system. He's helping them know themselves through writing, and to learn to manage their chaotic lives and hopefully survive the system. Stay I was…
In celebration of Dr. King's holiday, I want to honor the Rev. Delores M. Roberts-Mason, who dedicated her life to "the least, the last and the lost," empowering children through reading, performing arts, education and religion. Mrs. Roberts-Mason was a natural at empowerment. She pursued her first degree while her two children were young, and took them with her to campus…
