If you were to press rewind on my life and go back 30-some odd years, you’d hear me telling anyone who’d listen how Oklahoma was where I belonged, and how I couldn’t wait to move back once I finished high school. We had moved to NC from OK when I was 14, and I did … More Hiraeth
Sitting in our dark paneled living room (think: 1970’s plywood and not English Hunting Lodge), a room I’ve spent a lot of time in over the last 4 years, the corner to my right is calling for my attention. It’s been emptied of the desk and chair that normally fill it in order to make … More Moving Boxes
There are times I have to stop and think what year it is. Am I alone in this? 2021 has gone by so incredibly fast, it’s almost as if it didn’t happen. And yet here we are, recovering from feasting on Thanksgiving and staring down the Holidays and the culmination of yet another trip ’round … More Thankfuls
For more than a year, even prior to Covid and all that ensued as a result, I’ve worked from home. My preferred spot for work is the table near the window in our front room. It’s a huge arched window, like something out of a church in France. For years I had an office with … More Acorns and Oaks
Just as Covid swept in and locked us all down in March of 2020, my oldest daughter and I started a new routine: going for a run 3 days a week. We’ve kept up with it through Spring, Summer, Fall and most of Winter which I gotta say, I’m as surprised as anyone. I wasn’t … More (Street) Light and Shadow
How passing through the Appalachian mountains in the dark became a metaphor for my faith in 2020. … More Mountains in the Dark
“What did you just say?” My friend looked at me from the passenger seat, leaning forward for emphasis, as he asked the question again: “WHAT did you just say?” We were riding together and I was driving in my then-typical road-rage-at-all-times manner. When a driver in front of me failed to go as fast as … More Lord, Have Mercy
“Can you come meet me by the Braverman house?” No explanation, no details…just my wife asking me to come meet her near a house we often dream of buying, so-named because it reminds us of the family home on the TV show Parenthood. Either it had finally gone up for sale or she’d had a … More Restoration
(Note: the pic above was commissioned just for this piece by my oldest daughter. Couldn’t be prouder of that kid!) “You’re just like a frog in a kettle…swimming around in the water, not realizing the heat is being turned up on ya slowly.” An old friend of mine used to say this to me every … More Frog in the Kettle
Week number three of the new reality the Coronavirus pandemic has brought is just getting rolling in my part of the world. As we watch cities like NYC and New Orleans deal with massive outbreaks, the depth of the crisis is beginning to dawn on the rest of us. Social distancing isn’t just a funny … More Thoughts from a Distance
The Wading Pool 