I've always gotten a little smirk out of the Rick Nelson song "Garden Party". Years ago I never knew why the chorus resonated with me. Then I went to a white gown party and I stayed a while. If you ever go to a real blow out white gown event and stay a while, you'll …
Divorce
I was completely paralyzed on the right side of my body. I couldn’t speak. I had enough cognitive ability to understand what had happened to me but not enough ability to solve simple problems, recognize shapes or read a paragraph on the sports page. I didn’t realize it at the time, but on December 20, …
A Thanksgiving Reflection
Thanksgiving is slow. I am thankful for that. We prepare a traditional meal from scratch. We forbear consumption while awaiting its completion, enduring agonizingly wonderful smells. We serve the meal in serving dishes. Then we gather around a table, pray and eat. We share the meal with others, usually those closest to us. There is …
Salve for a Wounded Soul
I was driving home at sunset when I noticed a flock of geese cup their wings and glide down to the water. They were ready to take a rest after a busy day. It was then that I realized how disconnected I had become from the natural world. That was about to change. …
Programmed Backwards
Human beings are sometimes funny people. Take me, for instance. I sometimes wonder if I'm programmed backwards. I blog. I do this either because I might have something helpful to say or, perhaps, because I merely think I might have something helpful to say. Maybe I just fancy myself as an author and I take …
Daniel’s Ashes
The fire raged, all around me, even though I had taken care to avoid it all my life. I'd done all the right things and taken all the right precautions but, still, I was trapped. The fire consumed me. As my flesh melted from the flames, I was powerless to stop the inferno. My life …
Enough
The concept of enough has been addressed by others but I wanted to take my crack at it. I have had a six figure income. I have also experienced paralysis and cognitive impairment which was thought to be permanent while being the sole source of support for a good sized family. My perspective of normal …
Life at a Walker’s Pace
Trudging through two feet of snow in subzero temperatures on my Ojibwa snowshoes, my heart is beating a little heavier but it's the only sound that pierces the cold silence. From time to time, Max checks back with me after whatever mad dash his nose takes him on. I'm alone with my thoughts as I …
On Dying Young
Within the last year, I lost a childhood friend. He died a middle aged man of "old people" causes, perhaps brought on by lifestyle choices. He was a star athlete in high school and college. A beast of a man. If anyone was indestructible it was him. More recently, I lost a brother-in-law who died …
The Death of Christendom
Not so long ago, here and across the Atlantic, Christendom reigned to a point that it was so commonly assumed that folks wouldn't even have called it Christendom. It was the centuries long time when cultural, societal, political and religious norms blurred together to form a consensus of sorts. Certainly, North America, Europe and some …
reflections of a flawed man 