For the birds
A couple different friends asked about how to find the op-eds I get invited to write on a monthly basis and I recognized that I don’t do much to promote the reading of these, nor…
Category: personal essays
why I ask students to write me an email
Dear Student, You may be wondering why I gave you the assignment to compose an email to me that included a little bit about yourself as well as a few key ingredients in the message….
your being
I remember certain features of the night you were born with complete clarity. I know the view our hospital window faced; I remember we went to get ice cream earlier in the day; I remember…
learning to see: my racism
I grew up with a fundamental idea that all people are equal. At least, that’s what we would say out loud, and I know that we believed ourselves. It’s easy to believe this when there’s…
excursion in uncertainty
Anna and I went out into the mountains on Sunday, the first weekend in May as a big thaw transpires. Last month was dry and warm, and even though there’s still plenty of snow yet…
remembering Maggie
There’s a lot going on these days: pandemics and earthquakes and societal collapse and generalized widespread anxiety. Also, online homeschool. But there’s been this other dark cloud in our home for over a month, and I realized a while ago that I wasn’t making progress on any other writing because I really needed to write about my dog.
It’s hard to write and re-write something that you know you’ll never get right.
perspective
Setting foot in remote terrain is an act of reformation for me. Before I leave I don’t see how I can make things better, but being out gives me perspective, a focus on direction. And…
with the band
“I never knew you played piano.”
perfection and mistakes
Later today, the band gets to record in a basement studio in an old historic building, grand staircases and marble floors leading to a retrofitted basement space. We did a mic check—literally to check on…