From Tuesday October 2, 2018 : “This book is a mystery, and what is a mystery?” This, from a second grader, who is checking out Cam Jansen and the Basketball Mystery. A mystery is a thick book with small print and you’re not sure you can read it but it’s creased and the pages are falling out and you know… View Post

 I don’t remember who coined the phrase, “kill your darlings,” regarding a revision tactic where you get rid of writing that you might like, but that doesn’t do much for the overall piece (or it doesn’t fit into it), but it’s always made me flinch. Of course, this comes from someone who has a horrible time letting go of just… View Post

I get to write a monthly introduction to my church’s Faith Formation Newsletter, and here is October’s: You know how in the church service there’s a point when we silently confess our sins? Every week I’m like, “Shoot. I always forget this part,” and then I go over my to-do list.  Well, today I have a confession.  Last Sunday, as… View Post

It’s just that what happens in Autumn, the turning of the world, the falling, the settling, the letting go, screams to be described into significance. Or maybe it’s the other way around – we are screaming for significance in our turns, in our falls, in what we settle into, in what we let go of, and a leaf the color… View Post

The last Saturday in summer goes something like this: A few minutes before 7am, Jesse and Hadley leave for Traverse City for a soccer tournament. At 7:30, Harper leaves for swim practice. By 7:35, it is me and Corby and a house full of quiet. I make coffee. I turn on Coltrane. I light two fall scented candles I’d bought… View Post