read parts I and II, part III, and parts IV and V of the travelogue
Part VI: Geneva
After two days here, two days there, Geneva is where we got to unpack and live for a while.
We took a day train from Florence to Geneva, meandering around mountain after spectacular mountain. Geneva finally announced itself in quiet […]

I’m stuck inside today—more snow on the ground, but C and I are too puny to play in it—so time for more self-indulgent mental travels:
read parts I, II and III of the travelogue
Part IV: Train
The morning before our Dachau day trip we checked out of our hotel, schlepped down to the train station, bought tickets […]

Closer to Home
This is a lovely place that is hard to leave
And there’s a loneliness we will always grieve.
So you give what you can, only take what you need,
And hope your heart will know what your eyes can’t see.
When I was a child, I thought like a child,
And I still feel like a child sometimes.
And […]

I think I have the flu. There, I’ve said it. Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.
I wrote the following before it really hit me—wham!—but didn’t get a chance to post it. Now, I’m hopped up on pain/fever meds, so here it is.
—–
Yesterday was a stressful day. R had been up all Tuesday night at […]

The Washington Post magazine had an interesting article (sorry, registration required) about an instrument that purports to measure racial and gender bias. A group of researchers at Harvard have designed it, and a version is available on-line. [Edit: It looks like the site is getting slammed. Patience, grasshopper.]
In a nutshell, the test goes as follows: […]

mourning snowfall
will it be every year
around This Time
that the grief floats down,
soft and insistent,
gripping every waiting surface
with unseen crystalline claws,
accumulating in fresh heaps
for all the world to see?
i fall down into its stinging embrace,
flail about,
and look for the imprint of an angel
to guide me onward.
for dad, 5/14/47 - 1/28/03

But I can’t say I did much work…
After yesterday’s sad terseness, life got a whole lot better today. Thanks to everyone for commiserating with me.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. We got about two inches of fluffy powdery stuff, so white it was blue. I will leave interpretations of this wintry event […]

My child is going to discover snow today–with her child-care provider.

Read parts I and II
Part III: Dachau
First they came for the communists,
and I did not speak out,
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists,
and I did not speak out,
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I did not speak out,
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they […]

For two years running while in seminary, I took a January term that involved an extended international trip. The first Jan. term was a class at the World Council of Churches in Geneva. As a part of that trip I also visited Munich, Florence, and Barcelona. The second Jan. term was a trip to Merida, […]

I
am
so
so
so
so
so
so
cookie
cookie
cookie
starts with
C
so
so
so
so
so
sick
of the
Sesame Street
CD
in the
car
but I
tip
the
mirror down
and see a
smile
so
I
deal.
Another poem about the rear-view mirror, written in a few seconds. Apparently I have a thing about the rear view mirror.

I understand that today is Blog Delurking Day. I have no idea whether that’s true or not, but it sounds good to me. I guess if someone says it is, then it is. So in between drafting a document for work, I’ve been popping into various blogs to say hello. And people have been popping […]

What’s on your bookshelf?
Twelve Moons, poems by Mary Oliver
Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation, Debbie Stoller
Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx, Heidi Neumark
If Grace is True: Why God Will Save Every Person by Gulley and Mulholland
Mothers Who Think: Tales of Real-Life Parenthood, Peri and Moses, eds.I think I need some fiction. Any recommendations?
What’s in […]

See here for the first 10 days of Christmas. Here are the final two:
Image 11. The zen-like way my child opens presents. She very deliberately tears back the paper, and when the gift is revealed, she examines it with this patient mindfulness. No interest in what’s next—the thing before her is the most important thing […]