About Me
Introduction
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Lent 2020: Give up to Gain
Two years ago, I gave up social media for Lent. 40 days of doing without. Something. Although the religious affiliation I have identified with since my teen years neither practices nor preaches Lent, the years I spent in seminary introduced me to the historic and practical relevance of Lent. Beginning the day after Mardi Gras, the 40 days of Lent marks a season of self-denial that culminates on Easter Sunday, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Death. Resurrection. Dying to one thing in order to live, or make space for something else. Something better. “You’re a hard habit to break,” the band Chicago reminds us. Habits are, well, hard to…
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A Few of My Favorite Books
The prompt from StoryWorth, a gift my daughter gave me for Christmas, led me to consider what otherwise I would have avoided even thinking about. “What are your favorite books?” This challenge to select from beaucoup books I have read forced me to ignore all but the top titles that came to mind without having to browse my bookshelves. To be honest, my favorite book is the book I am currently reading or else I would lay that book aside in favor of one I have read and loved. Yet there are so many books to read, too many to count in fact, and I always tell people that a…
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#SpringFire at Pinehaven
“Thank You, Firefighters” The fire line cut above our area saved the cabins in Pinehaven. Courageous firefighters stood their ground here, like soldiers sent into battle. After forced evacuation on Friday June 29, returning to our cabin on Tuesday July 10, we found everything as we had left it . . . piles of raked pine needles in the driveway, flowers I had planted in window boxes and planters on the deck, and even the garden gloves dropped on the ground once the decision was made to pack and leave.
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The Prodigal Suitcase Comes Home
If my suitcase could talk, what would it tell me? Would it tell me what happened that night 6 months ago when I let go of its hand(le)? Would it tell me where it has been all this time? Would it tell me whose fault it was that it got left behind? Would it tell me when I messed up? When I took my eyes off this seeming extension of my right arm? All speculation as to who, what, when, where and why fell to the ground yesterday when my long-lost suitcase made its way home. What happened?
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Blogging is like fishing
While standing on the shore of tiny Blue Lake near Cuchara, Colorado, casting until my right shoulder screamed at me to quit, I thought how much blogging is like fishing. I want to catch fish. Hmm, readers. I am willing to work at catching fish. Uh, readers. I keep baiting the hook. Trying to figure out what fish will bite. Umm, readers will read.
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On Daring Greatly: Starting Over
Ta-dah! Daring greatly to start over, I attempt to post regularly on this site. Why Footnotes2Stories? Why not a brand new blog title? Why move from my previous blog site where I have blogged since 2009 (albeit with intermittent posts and random topics)? I believe our stories are connected. I have never turned loose of this idea. “So in the long run the stories all overlap and mingle like searchlights in the dark.… And my story and your story are all part of each other too because … we are at least a footnote at the bottom of each other’s stories.” Secrets in the Dark Frederick Blechner, Secrets in the…