Last night we were able to get together with some old friends and spend a few hours catching up over good food and drink, laughs and games. Our families have known one another for a long time, going all the way back to BK days (before kids), and as a result our kids quite literally … More The Long Letting Go Called Parenthood
Earlier this spring I sat on our screened-in porch and breathed deeply of the air. It was clean, crisp and clear – the way air often is after a spring thunderstorm. It was sweet, rich, full, encompassing. And it was familiar. As I breathed in I was transported back to my childhood, back to my … More The Power of Memories
As I made a 3-point turn to go back and check out the “House for rent” sign we just passed, my daughter literally shouted from the back seat “Oh my God, look at the trees!!!!” I smiled and saw where her eyes were gazing: a line of long leaf pines standing fifty-plus feet in the … More Place Matters
“When you’re in your 20s, you think you’ve got all the time in the world. You get older, and you go through a quickening. Everything seems to get faster.” Colin Hay, singer/songwriter When I read this quote it stopped me in my tracks. Not because it was shocking or I hadn’t thought of it, but … More The Quickening
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
This Spring we took our kids home to North Carolina to see family and friends while they were on break from school. We passed into the Smoky mountains of Tennessee/NC Border just as dawn began to break through the dark. Even now as I write it, I’m transported back to that moment and to the … More Searching for a Thing Called Joy
How passing through the Appalachian mountains in the dark became a metaphor for my faith in 2020. … More Mountains in the Dark
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 