In 2010, Ash Wednesday occurred on February 17th. Mrs. tVM and I attended the early morning service at the Redemptorist Renewal Center (RRC) in Picture Rocks, Arizona, 3.5 miles from our home on the edge of the Saguaro National Park to the northwest of Tucson. It was the first Ash Wednesday service I had attended […]
Category Archives: Spirit
Lessons from the Forest
Three months ago, I wrote about the lessons the Kinnickinnic River taught me when I kayaked in high, rapid water with my friend Adam. Nature continues to teach me, and once more, the hard, humbling way, but that approach is certain to capture one’s attention… Since moving up to the hill with Clarence, I have […]
Mail Order Annie
I acquired my first Harry Chapin album in the fall of 1972 when I arrived in Anchorage. Heads & Tails it was titled. It was the first of 11 albums Harry would produce over his too-short career that ended tragically in a car accident in May 1981, the same month and year my best friend […]
Happy Birthday, Dad
My father would have celebrated his 97th birthday today. As it is, he passed peacefully in his sleep in his own bed on June 3, 2015. My father was a good man, worked hard, cared for his family and was honest. Earlier this year, I posted his ‘obituary’ on my other website. It is a […]
Beyond Politics
I saw a bee on a flower this morning and recalled these words from Celtic thinker John O’Donohue… “Animals know nothing of Freud, Jesus, Buddha, Wall Street, the Pentagon or the Vatican. They live outside the politics of human intention… they already inhabit the eternal… the dignity, beauty, and wisdom of the animal world [is] […]
Not To Be Taken for Granted
One of the great pleasures in life during our time in the desert was monsoon season. Mrs. tVM and I enjoyed sitting on our covered decks and watching the lightning flash and the rain pour from the sky in bucketsful. It was wondrous and awe-inspiring. Since moving to the hobbit house a week ago, Clarence […]
Two Nights on the Hill
While I fiercely miss the daily companionship of Mrs. tVM, I have found peace in my two nights on the hill since we became ‘homeless’ on Friday. Mrs. tVM will reside with our daughter and her family across the St. Croix River in Minnesota. I have chosen to live with Clarence on the hill in […]
Gonna Set My Soul Free
Swedish writer and photographer Staffan Widstrand comments, “Many people have experienced for themselves the value of simply walking in nature, how you return feeling refreshed, how your thinking is clearer and you are more balanced.” My personal direct encounters with nature throughout my life verify Mr. Widstrand’s observation. “In a hole in the ground there […]
The Joy of Adventure
There are those activities like fishing for trout that one can devote a morning, an afternoon, even a full day to and never capture as much as a glimpse of the bespeckled fish. That is of no consequence to the devote practitioner who gains as much – if not more – from the activity as […]
Encounter the Miraculous
Early this morning, Clarence and I went mushrooming with our good friend Bonnie and her dog Bruno. A thin mist wetted the air and made the leaves greener than Ireland. Bonnie startled me when she called out, “Oh my goodness!” “Did you find a mushroom?” I replied. “No. A fawn!” I immediately put Clarence on […]