Moving in, moving out

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Today I took a break from unpacking boxes and moving furniture and packed my bags for Congo. I leave in three days.

We began moving into our new home nine days ago and yesterday it began to feel like home. Our daughter had played house, arranging furniture and rugs, and her husband had moved extra stuff and boxes upstairs, while Ethan, the two-year-old Entropy Machine, scattered cars, trucks, and improvised light sabers faster than we could collect and stash all the stuff of our existence. Hazel, 6, picked daffodils that popped up on a warm day and explored all the nooks and crannies. The house felt blessed and broken in by their presence. Continue reading →

Being and Moving

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IMG_3778 (1)It is March 13 and a fresh snow slows time as if to say, Let’s have some more winter before spring bursts upon us.

I could use a real time stop, to let me catch up with myself. Maybe that’s why time has been playing tricks on me. Like I was sure today is my grandson’s second birthday when it was actually yesterday. Continue reading →

Up in smoke

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Today I burned the contents of four file drawers. I already have bags and bags of recycle and trash so I thought why not have the fun of burning some paper? I was sorting and packing stuff in the basement in preparation for our move and I came across these files that I didn’t even remember belonged to me. They’d been there since our last move in 2008.

I guess I didn’t need anything in those files if I so totally forgot about them. Actually I did. Continue reading →

Boxing up

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We went out today in search of boxes. Many, many boxes. I started packing with the boxes we have on hand and I didn’t get through the first of five bookshelves. We are buying boxes because we have made the rounds of grocery stores for boxes too often in the past. You never get enough that way. I will have enough boxes. I will be wealthy in boxes. Continue reading →

Going deep

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isuoiri5ypt8x70000000000So. Our bid was accepted on the house we are calling the Pink Lady. This was a very fast real estate rollercoaster. Ten days after putting our country home on the market, and not knowing exactly what we were looking for in the city, though we had some stringent requirements, we have sold our house and bought another one. Continue reading →

Donald Trump, kickstarter

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img_3032We are selling our beautiful house in the Michigan woods and plotting a move to the nearby city of South Bend, Indiana. We have many reasons for doing this and we have been thinking about it for some time but what prompted us to take action, to actually put our beloved home on the market and begin the rollercoaster of real estate searches, showings, and offers, has a lot to do with the election of Donald Trump and the stunning, fast-moving stream of events since then. Continue reading →

A statement of faith

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Why am I skeptical of all petitions and schemes to wrest the presidency away from Donald Trump? Because I believe that at best they would only delay the inevitable, since nearly half the country voted for him. What we would get in a Clinton presidency would only feed the anger and dismay of this half of the country. What we would get in a Pence presidency would do exactly what a Trump presidency will do but in a calmer fashion. Continue reading →

Agony in the aftermath

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For my morning “devotions” I read two articles and tried to deal with the sense that I need to do something but I don’t know what it is. It is very frustrating, I feel not quite smart enough, a feeling I’ve often had in the past when dealing with huge, intractable problems like nuclear weapons and climate change.

I’m wondering whether the role I have to play has less to do with being smart than with being honest. Continue reading →