Outbreaks from my armchair

Yes, anything I write probably ought to have that qualifier, that I am at best an armchair expert and in reality, not even close about, really, everything I type. Hasn't stopped me yet... I was thinking about outbreaks of supposedly "cured" diseases this week--and by "cured" I of course mean "vaccinated." Things like polio, measles, …

Inertia (from my draft folder)

[In non-shocking news, I have drafts I started and never published. Mainly because writing more than 10 minutes at a time has seemed impossible. It's not, btw, butmy brain loves its excuses. So I've forgotten what more was supposed to happen here, so I'm giving it a light edit and hitting publish. Not all my …

Stories and How We Tell Them

Man, that's the whole thing, right? Maybe not the *whole* thing for most of us, but shift your perspective just a bit, and I think it is. Love, family, God, Jesus, politics, religion...those full meal topics and the bite size portions underneath, they are all stories we tell. We tell them to ourselves, the world, …

Coffee in a Covid World

Coffee. That's my sanity. The work-from-home establishment of control in this out-of-mind time, where jobs security is barely a concept, Zoom is now a noun, verb, and way of life, and bars are closed so the only drinking option is alone, where nobody knows your name. My 3-times a day trips to the coffeepot at …

And Again

Two years. The sort of time frame that might feel like forever as you go through it, then in retrospect, seem like a blink of an eye. Not this time. It's been a long time, no matter which way you look at it. Our daughter, despite her attempts to never eat any protein with dinner, …

Monsters Inc.

I wish this was a post about toddlers as God's tiny monsters. It would be funny, insightful, and honest. Exactly what I  tell myself I signed up for when I started this blog. But, as jokes go, it's also obvious; a bit of a cliche. We all know the score early in parenthood: your baby …

Day By Day, By Wonder, By Dreams

I want to say that the days blend together, that all these months in, we are in the great slog of parenthood, of diapers and cereal and naps and tantrums and crawling, standing, baby-proofing. But the fact is, every single day is different. Every day is new, and the tiny little girl I left this …

Great Expectations

**and other novels I never read No, just like most of you, I've never read Great Expectations. Despite a degree in literature, I just never had any reason to read a Dickens novel. If the unremitting drear of "A Christmas Carol" is any indication, it's probably a good choice, too.** **Note: I may not be …

Present Tense

Grief is vicious, not because we shouldn't grieve, but because we grieve in the present, and remember in the past. We're torn between what was--and therefore can no longer be--and what so incontrovertibly IS right now. And now always wins. I don't know how you bring those good memories up to the fore, to maybe …

The Real Zombie Nation

We Are Tired There are no other words for it. Just tired. You could add in cranky and short-tempered if you want, but I think that first simple, declarative sentence covers it. So tired. If you have kids at home, I know I'm preaching to the choir. If you don't--or you've forgot--you may need an …