other deepening places
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Wendell Berry never ceases to amaze me. Here, I am reminded of the hours my father spent behind one of those old clunky VHS camcorders of the late 1980s. Rather than taking part in our family vacations, he served as video historian and ended up watching us and everything we experienced through a small lens,…
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This poem needs no introduction. As the temperatures dropped to the high fifties on Friday and I slipped into one of my favorite hoodies, I knew Autumn had arrived. No better way to celebrate the changing of the seasons than to read “To Autumn” by John Keats. Grab a cup of hot cider, sit down…
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Summer draws to a close, a new week begins, and I return to the deepening ground of Mary Oliver’s poetry. Hear the invitation to spend our lives “on some / unstinting happiness,” but not according to the world’s definition. Rather, the simple overlooked gifts that poets like Mary Oliver and Wendell Berry capture so beautifully.…
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At the end of long weekend, I returned to the wisdom of Wendell Berry. Oh, for the peace of simple things and the dumb life of roots! (If you haven’t read The Peace of Wild Things, then you MUST follow this link to hear Wendell Berry read the powerful companion piece and fitting follow-up to…
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We have returned, having shrunk and grown, having lost and gained, having witnessed death and birth. In my father-of-the-groom speech, I ruminated on each of these thoughts as we celebrated the union of my son and his bride. The day was perfect, despite the downpour just before the ceremony and humidity that followed. I closed…
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Reading Andrew Klavan’s The Truth and Beauty stirred up the embers of my Romantic poetry fires. Most importantly, it led to a deeper appreciation for the poetry of John Keats. I have loved his most famous works for years including “Bright Star” and “La Belle Dame Sans Merci,” but I came upon these two wonderful…
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July draws to a close, a month bookended by two key celebrations: the birth of America and the birth of my marriage! Between those two memorial stones falls a variety of family trips, community gatherings, and musical gigs that encompass a typical summer with August’s shadow looming. School is just around the corner. Time to…
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Rather than post yesterday, we chose to celebrate the Fourth of July with disc golf in the morning, then some quiet time to do crossword puzzles and cryptic quotes from The Epoch Times in the afternoon, followed by time to explore Wolf Creek looking for antique bottles, hot dogs on the grill with chips, baked…
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My daughter has turned eighteen. As John Lennon once wrote, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” (“Beautiful Boy”). He understood, as a father, how quickly time escapes us. For all of us who have become parents, this truth is painfully real. It drives me more into the present, trying…
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Looking at the small shelf of books beside my bed last night, I noticed my copy of David Whyte’s The Bell and the Blackbird. My wife purchased the collection for me a few years ago when I expressed an interest in the book after a colleague introduced me to Whyte’s poetry. If you are familiar…
