Every time I drive by the house on a certain corner in town, I feel sad. A couple of years ago, it got a complete face lift, transforming it from an unkempt place with a yard full of random furniture and appliances to an attractive little property. A few months later, the place looked as bad as ever. Contrast that to another house in my neighborhood which was neglected for years, paint peeling and lawn shriveled to just weeds. Under new ownership, it now looks tidy, clean, and pleasantly inviting. The condition of these homes seems directly related to the inner condition of the Continue Reading
How Wonder is Better than Getting Stuff Done
It sat there on the dining room floor, floating when we walked by and begging to be swept up. For some reason, I ignored the soft gray feather that had blown in from outside for two days. That turned out to be a good thing. Have you ever gotten out of the normal routine and seen things from a different perspective? On the morning of the day I had planned to clean, my one-year-old grandson and his mommy stopped by. Reuel was a bit grumpy and out of sorts – until his grandfather picked up the feather and blew it toward the ceiling. The feather floated down. Reu stood wide-eyed, watching Continue Reading
How to Forage for Joy
“Be vewy, vewy quiet … we awe hunting mushwooms.” That's what Elmer Fudd might have said if he’d joined our fungi-foraging expedition this last spring. Actually, we weren’t very quiet. Picture nine people tromping through the woods, searching for a delicious species called morels. (You can only forage for these in the spring, as there is a poisonous variety called the false morel which grows in the fall.) We start up the hillside, spongy ground springing underfoot, twigs snapping, bushes brushing our jeans. There is so much texture on the forest floor it is difficult to see what is what. Continue Reading