Sabbatical * Hiatus * Furlough

Crater Lake. June 2014. Have you ever heard that old saying, If you have too many irons in the fire, you might smother the flames?  Me neither, to tell you the truth. I think I just made it up. But it has the vapid air of a platitude, doesn’t it? It feels true, all the same. I […]


Grandfamilies: Right Things

Ayden, Cadence, Rich, Me. March Field Air Museum. June 2016. Photo: Rodney G. Seiler How can one weekend hold so much pain?  From private tragedy to slaughter that devastates us all, this past weekend was a tough one. What can we hang on to when terror and hate spew from a rifle? How do we keep […]


What My Tomato Taught Me

My Black Cherry tomato and my black labrador retriever, JD. My tomato plant looks big and busy if you take a quick glance–the vines keep getting longer and the blooms keep coming. But but but, if you look closely at the plant, you notice that the central vines don’t look so good. They’re pale, yellowed, dried […]


Weekend Reflection: Praying For Hope and Blue Skies

Daughter Elaine, Off the Coast of Raiatea, Society Archipelago, French Polynesia. January 2004. Beseech Him with me: Hope for Vanuatu. Blue Skies for Guam and her neighbors. God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into […]


A Book Happened

If you click on the image, you’ll see the Amazon listing for the paperback edition.  Not What I Imagined That’s an odd way for me to put it, isn’t it? Not “I wrote a book,” but “a book happened.” I don’t mean anything clever or coy–honest. I’m still trying to figure out how this book came to be. Not […]