Everyday Simple

When I tell my kids we’re going to do something, I might as well be forging it into stone or making a blood bond.  In their opinion, I’ve promised them something will be, and they’re counting on it to be done.  I remember those days in my youth.  I looked forward to something, usually doing [...]

There’s something about those moments when you find yourself teaching your kids life lessons.  Not the lectures about how they know what’s right and wrong when you know they aren’t listening to you.  I’m talking about the times when they are open, particularly when they’re really young, particularly when they want to learn.
Our three-year-old has [...]

Have I written about faith before? (Sorry, I can’t help the sweet sarcasm!)  I know I have.  I know I’ve mentioned that faith becomes most apparent when we take the leap from security, routine, and stability and plunge into unchartered territory.  Often this happens when we act on our intuition, trying to follow our hearts, [...]

The Haitian earthquake happened January 12th.  I heard about it first in an e-mail from my priest to the congregation.  I finally made the conscious decision to look at photos on-line on Monday, the 18th.  The night before, over an impromptu dinner with friends, one of them told me, “Don’t look.  You’ll be buying a [...]

In my last post, I mentioned mindfulness.  It’s a buzzword these days.  Just be mindful, and all will be well.  That would be like me saying to live every day simply.  In an unapologetically Buddhist way, mindfulness is that easy and that difficult, just as living life simply is.  Read that as you will.
Only you [...]

It may not make sense to you, but it does to me.

The day’s light gone, the fireplace warm and inviting, all the notions of productivity flee, and I want to sit and (at least pretend to) knit by the fire . . . perhaps even watch a new DVD.  “We could just go to bed [...]

This whole week embodies an Indian summer.  We’ve had our first frost.  All the trees have come aglow, and most have dropped their leaves.  I chanced upon this ginko tree at the park the day before Halloween; they drop their leaves so quickly.  Their golden leaves must be too heavy to hold for long.
And this [...]

My youngest and her equally young friend pick raspberries in the autumn wind and sun, bundled in their jackets, their hands turning red.  Of course, on their return inside, there’s a heap of jackets, socks and shoes near the rocking chair/climbing gym.
My boys and their friend huddle around their DSes, plotting, sharing and exclaiming together [...]

“I See You”
It’s okay, Man in the brown tweed jacket.
I’ll not look into your dark eyes
    or watch the rain fall into your
    salt and pepper hair.
Your feet jump over the running water as
You stride purposefully to your vehicle
    at 5:30 p.m., carrying your dark baggage.
But with your slightly hunched shoulders
    and hands at your sides poised for a [...]