I first shared this story from Ben-Hur in December 2011, the first Christmas season of our website. Most people — certainly those younger than 60 — may only know “Ben-Hur” as a chariot race that appeared in the 1959 Academy Award-winning film starring the late Charlton Heston. That film was telecast regularly during the holiday […]
Category Archives: Awe and Wonder
Who Will Take Care of My Dog
I turned 69-years old last September and find myself asking more frequently, “What have I left to do in this throw-away society where relationships and friendships don’t count as much as they used to?” I am ready to check out. There is nothing left for me to do. I enjoy the sound of the river […]
First Snowfall 2018
Sitting with books and coffee, there is something quite magical about watching the first significant snowfall of the season in River Falls…
At Peace with My Credo
Though some may challenge the label as it applies to me, I am a spiritual man. Unlike the North Star, my faith and spirituality have not been constant, rather, have evolved over seven decades. This is my credo… My Credo I believe there is a Creator that set the universe in motion. I believe Jesus […]
September, a Poem
September is my favorite month of the year. I invite you to listen to this poem, September by Helen Hunt Jackson (1830 – 1885), an American poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the United States government. September as read by Garrison Keillor… September by Helen Hunt […]
September on the River
There is no better month than September, the month when green leaves give way to pale yellow, then blush in vibrant red and orange. Black-eyed Susan’s wilt with little thought to their future resurrection. The change has little to do with temperature, rather, because the earth tilts its axis 23.5 degrees to its orbital plane while […]
Loon Lake
Although I lived many years at the base of the Adirondack Mountains in Holland Patent, NY, I have never seen a loon. I read Loon Lake when E.L. Doctorow published it in 1980. We lived in Upstate New York at the time, but I remember little about the book. I do recall that I enjoyed […]
Making the World a Better Place
I know for certain that THE MOST EFFECTIVE way to make the world a better place to be is by greeting, smiling and waving at every creature – man, woman, child, animal, and plant – you encounter throughout the day. Those simple gestures go much farther than any dollar you could contribute to the most […]
Things Don’t Just Happen
Have you ever traveled to where snow is made, seen the vault where hail is stockpiled, The arsenals of hail and snow that I keep in readiness for times of trouble and battle and war? Can you find your way to where lightning is launched, or to the place from […]
Angels
In a recent “Listen Well” offering, author, playwright and essayist Margaret Dulaney referenced the Irish mystic, Lorna Byrne. Unfamiliar with Lorna Byrne, I did some research which quickly grabbed my attention. I purchased her first book Angels in My Hair (©2008) and read the 300 pages over two months in small pieces. The ‘about the […]