Into the Wild Wood and Home Again

A bright spot in all the dreary news... my new book is now available for pre-sales!  Love you all, C

Mr. Rogers famously quoted his mother, that when things get scary, look for the helpers.  Most of us want to be the helpers, and often are. But when we see what happens to the helpers, it causes real pain. We find other ways to help. We do our best. But it's scary to be a helper, too.  God bless all who are helpers. Please keep all helpers safe.  Amen. C

The pellet stove is humming along nicely. I'm grateful for the fact that G cleans it just about every morning so it runs well. Today, it will be my best companion as I sit and write and laugh with friends on Zoom in my writing class. I'm grateful for the class; too much of the outside world has seeped into my poet-mind, and I can't seem to write much of anything, and what I do write is angry and boring. I'm hoping that today will give me a new rabbit hole to fall into.  I'm grateful for a lot of things. I spend far too much time worrying and bemoaning the disastrous state of things. It'd be hard not to-- I don't even know how some people are just floating along with no idea about what's tearing our country and our world apart. They don't see (or don't want to see) the generational damage that is being done. So, I tend to get sucked into and caught up by the horrors. Most folks I know are feeling a level of anxiety that eclipses that of the pandem...

Are you ready for the wintah weathah?  We are expecting not only a deep freeze this weekend (high of zero tomorrow? yeep), but maybe a "significant snow event" on Sunday-Monday.  Either way, it is still January, and it's gonna be wintery.  I have a writing class online all day Saturday, but I will still need to get groceries at some point. I'm trying to figure that out. I may have to dash out right after my class, brave the cold, and get the goods.  I just don't want to be out long, nor do I want the pellet stove to be off long. Maybe I'll see if Meg can come over and sit with the dog and keep the pellets going.  At any rate, it's not today. This morning is a balmy 16 degrees, dark, and slick under foot.  Be safe all, and yes, this is a boring morning post. I'm feeling a little boring. I promise you I'll be more interesting another day.  Take good care, hold loved ones super close, keep an eye on your neighbors-- we'll get through all this icy ...

I had an interesting conversation with a young woman who is working as an intern at the Congregational Church here in town. Her small liberal arts college requires that students do an internship every year, and she is contemplating the connections between faith and charitable acts, among other religion-centered things. She's particularly intrigued with Catholicism; her family, in past generations, were sort of practicing Catholics, and she has found herself drawn to certain elements of the faith tradition. She's particularly interested in the lives of the saints, with miracles, and other sacred mysteries that date back throughout Western history. She approves of the work of the most recent popes, and she especially likes that Catholicism has "hard and fast rules" of living. We talked for about an hour, a sort of free-associated Q/A that touched on a lot of things.  I started out with my thoughts that my faith tradition didn't cause how I view other people and work...

Well, winter's definitely dug in. We have plenty of snow. We have the cold temps back in force, with even colder ones on the way. Yay. Highs in the single digits by Saturday. I'm glad I have a writing class to be in most all day. I yearn for sunshine, warmth, not having to wear a/ boots, b/ coats, c/ gloves, etc. I don't like scraping my car windows, Sam-I-Am.  But it's second semester, and the first day went well, I think. I am down to five (from seven) students in my creative writing class, but they are a nice crew, and we'll get on well. I have a full house for AP Lit, and they seem willing to get on with the whole biz, so that's good, too. Most of them have had me for at least one class (some two) before now, so they know the drill. The new three will catch up.  I got my grades done quickly (even the requisite parent emails telling them that their kids who did no work did not pass), and had plenty of time to eat lunch. This new term will be better in a lot o...