Dear Persephone, You are fifty-three months old today. Yesterday, technically, but cut me some slack. After our long summer vacation, I finally understand what people…
Pronounce the dot.
Author: Editor B
When I arrived in Bloomington, people were already complaining about the heat. “You must have brought this heat up with you from New Orleans,” they…
We took a break from Bloomington and made a side trip to visit my family.
When we arrived at my parents’ house, I was alarmed to discover my father lying on the floor in the kitchen. My folks aren’t getting any younger. Was this a medical emergency?
Since I don’t get back to Bloomington often, I made a point of getting together with folks.
The first thing I did when I got to Bloomington was to ride the B-Line. Lucky me, I have generous friends who let me borrow…
We went way up to the mountains of northern Alabama, to Monte Sano State Park. No elaborate rituals. No goat sacrifice. Just hanging out in…
Dear Persephone, You are now fifty-two months old. Our family vacation hasn’t allowed much time to sit and write, so in addition to being late,…
I was mighty excited to see the Transit of Venus this past Tuesday. I set up a tiny mirror on a tripod in our back yard, which reflected the image of the sun through our kitchen and down a short hall into my darkened office.
This is called the reflected pinhole method, which is a safe and simple way to observe solar events.
BART, you probably haven’t read about this [forwarded message: Why Did Jesus Fold the Napkin?] ––––– you are so brilliant, and I understand how your mind was to reject Jesus, but He is the only way to salvation, He is the only God who died on the cross for our sins–––statues of buddah, baal and Hinduisms and islam and everything else is NOT the way to anything===go back to reading the Bible and before each reading ask God to help you understand. In these last days, you want to be prepared for heaven and the final judgement–––I am so serious, I really hope you understand that I love you and Christy and Persephone––––wouldn’t be much of an aunt if I didn’t at least tell you how important you are.
Dear Persephone, You are fifty-one months old today. It feels like it’s been an epic month in your life. But aren’t they all epic at…
By the way, I’ve got an essay published on the Humanistic Paganism website, “The Impossibility of Atheism.” Check it out, and by all means let me know what you think, over there or over here or however you prefer.
I don’t often do this, but here are some words written by someone else. I guess I should add a few words of my own. I read Ecotopia in the late 80s. Written by Ernest Callenbach, it’s an imaginative novel that speculates on what would happen if the west coast of the United States seceded from the union and established a country based on the radical idea of living sustainably. I read it in a class on utopian literature at Indiana University, taught by the amazing Edward Gubar. I loved that class. Incidentally, today I saw that Edward’s ex-wife Susan Gubar is on the front page of the Chronicle of Higher Education. She is also a writer facing her own mortality, just as Ernest Callenbach has done. Callenbach died a few weeks ago, and this letter was found on his computer. It was obviously written as a final statement. Please, please read it. Also, many thanks to TomDispatch.com for first publishing this epistle.
Workers of the world, take a break and celebrate International Workers’ Day or as I prefer to call it: May Day. It’s a day to…
Getting sick is like taking a trip. Not a pleasure cruise. Quite the opposite. Nevertheless it can be an interesting experience, even educational, if you look at it the right way.
Dear Persephone, You are fifty months old today. To celebrate we counted to fifty together. The month got off to a rough start. You had…
We gather by the side of the road on the edge of an urban forest. I know the others only because they are dressed like…
The coolest thing about this year’s hike, from my personal perspective, is that I’ve had hardly anything to do with organizing the event. (Term limits,…
Back in August when Persephone started school my morning routine changed severely. Instead of being responsible for bundling a toddler off to daycare, suddenly I…
With apologies to Suzanne Collins: This has nothing to do with that. It recently occurred to me that I am drowning in food. I have…