“There is a rumor of total welcome among the frosts of the winter morning.” So writes American poet Mary Oliver in her “Wordsworth’s Mountain” essay that appears in Upstream, Ms. Oliver’s 2016 collection of essays that reflect her willingness to lose herself in the beauties and mysteries of the natural world. I chanced to read […]
Category Archives: Awe and Wonder
Observe with Passion
I’ve not read Mary Oliver’s 1984 Pulitzer Prize winning collection of poems American Primitive. Ms. Oliver is often compared to Emily Dickinson and her work frequently focuses on the natural world. In 2016, I read her collection of essays Upstream in which she reflects on her willingness to lose herself within the beauty and […]
Earth Rise
On Christmas Eve 1968, the crew of the Apollo 8 spacecraft took this picture – known as “Earth Rise” – while orbiting the moon. During the mission, the crew read the first 10 verses from the book of Genesis over a live television broadcast. When Commander Frank Borman signed off, he said: “We close with […]
Life Is Real… Life Is Grand
I think for many people the promise of heaven is so indescribably glorious that they tend to dismiss their time on earth as if it were the obligatory time one spends at a gate in an airline terminal waiting to board a flight to Jamaica. That’s too bad because this life we live on earth […]
The Christmas Story
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 […]
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 […]