learning to see: a preface
Observing comes naturally to us. Maybe it’s so natural to us that we take it for granted, our eyes and ears and noses just consuming surroundings so automatically that we’re seldom consciously aware of the…
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…
formal education, the fun they had, and plan B
School isn’t the same right now, and we shouldn’t expect it to be. Let’s use this experience to remember what schools and our teachers create for us; and let’s not pretend that there are easy replacements.
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…
readied for disaster
I’m giving this speech at a ceremony today for some college grads, honor society initiates. I think it’s mostly done, which is good because it starts in an hour. * * * I’m delighted 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…
dumb question
We say there’s no such thing as a “dumb question.” But I know we all know we know better. Maybe. I was with a few hundred students on Friday, chaperoning a field trip for a…