I had the honor of writing both my dad’s obituary and his eulogy after he suffered a fatal heart attack while driving 65 miles an hour up Highway 75 during Super Bowl weekend 30 years ago. He has been gone now two years longer than I was alive in 1993. Those numbers and others like [...]
Even on the grayest days, we have a cheerful reminder that neither spring nor love ever fails, though sometimes they do take their time. We have other reminders too -- that challenged roots grow deep, tiny shoots are stronger than they look, basil makes everything taste better and grandparent vigilance stands eternal. All this because [...]
A park bench told me the story of Fonferek’s Glen, as much as its age-old dolomite cliffs, charming waterfall and whimsical name. Dedicated to a young woman named Julia, the bench held two bunches of dying flowers when I saw it Monday afternoon. They might have been left as a tribute to her, a baker [...]
Music lives forever. I thought about that Saturday afternoon as the timeless strains of the Appleton Boychoir's A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols echoed through the Lawrence Chapel. The Festival dates back to 1880 and the Appleton Boychoir has performed it annually since 1979. Our own involvement started in 1995 when our oldest son [...]
I passed a long, slow jog Saturday with a 17-track, all Kris Kristofferson playlist in my ear and intriguing stories of life running through my head. A rope string laid low by the wind and a bunch of deflated balloons inspired about a half-mile muse about finite festivities. Party or promotion, I wondered. Released or [...]