In her essay, "We Don't Need Another Hero," Roxane Gay quarrels with labeling Cassidy Hutchinson a hero for her recent testimony: It took courage, I suppose, for Hutchinson to do the right thing. I can imagine she was facing a lot of political pressure, and perhaps even danger for coming forward to share what she … Continue reading HERO
WORTH MENTIONING
Some things are worth mentioning: the freedom to marry the person you love, food, clean air, water in streams, the compassion of people you know and also of the people you do not know. Children, uncles and aunts or third and fourth cousins, the devotion of grandparents, the expectation that if I fall someone will … Continue reading WORTH MENTIONING
FOOLED
We could say we are looking for sea glass, but we never do. We could say we are looking for agates, which is also true, but what Gary tells people is: "Rocks." This is also true, though not completely true. This posting concerns gathering treasure from the beach, reviewing promises and lies, and a fictional … Continue reading FOOLED
LAND LINE
No one calls us. No. That's inaccurate. We have friends in Canada who call sometimes to touch base and one of our sons often calls us during his breaks working from home, especially while he is on a walk. Our younger son got us each a cell phone and pays our new phone bill, so … Continue reading LAND LINE
PREVENTABLE
On May 25, 1911, a catastrophic event changed public opinion forever. A factory building in Manhattan caught fire but all exits, including firedoors and stairs had been locked or chained shut. Workers (mostly women) could not escape the building. In desperation, 62 people died when they fell or jumped from windows to escape the flames … Continue reading PREVENTABLE
OutHorse
https://player.vimeo.com/video/710287348?h=d04a56aad2 The best advice my mother ever gave, and these were words she said to me hundreds of times: Think how the other person feels. She meant to help me be a kind person. As a child I went to Unitarian Sunday school. Later I attended worship at many churches and temples and houses of … Continue reading OutHorse
TRIGGER
"Trigger" does not refer to the horse "Trigger" but the warning, though I am only talking about my own triggers, especially cigarettes. So this isn't exactly a warning, but more about writing, and you can probably read this essay without needing to be warned. When I first began teaching the essay, the concept of creative … Continue reading TRIGGER
DONE so far
I put on a warp each month, beginning in December and two in March, and chose weft colors to create two quite different shawls. I have only to sew in the labels. Today, I finished our federal and state taxes and sent them off. We walked the shore for nearly three hours and found sea … Continue reading DONE so far
GRAY ANATOMY
Since I began weaving in earnest, I've been rewatching television online, shows I've already seen, or tried to see, when they first aired. Monk. Psych. Just now, it's Grey's Anatomy. How this tree had grown. Sometimes a log drifts onshore and is just too incredible to ignore. But I'm not really all that interested in … Continue reading GRAY ANATOMY
TOWARD JUSTICE
"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."—Dr. Martin Luther King. It's raining. I made chili for our lunch. We ate chocolate chip cookies from the freezer. I got the April warp through the reed while watching the ninth season of Grey's Anatomy, which means I haven't seen any of … Continue reading TOWARD JUSTICE
IMPERFECT PATIENCE 