Narrow Roads and a Spacious Place
At first, the wilderness appears wide open. It is unexplored. Who knows what wonders wait to be found. When we first moved to Florida, we were eager to explore new roads. We caught glimpses of water – river or ocean – and we pressed on. But the river always remained hidden behind endless waves of Spanish moss. The ocean was a mirage, a blue...
These Farmhouse Bookshelves
Today, I am not giving you a peek at the bookshelves lining the walls of this old farmhouse. Instead, I am giving you a peek at what you'll find spilling out of baskets and boxes. What you'll find stacked beside my bed and by my armchair near the fireplace. I'm showing you my pile of dreams. My paper stack of wishes. I am recommending plant...
Parables
Autumn is announced by the seedling trees. The baby trees. They are the first to abandon their green in favor of orange or red or yellow. Driving these country roads, they are like lit matches. Small, flickering flames against the general greens and faded browns of early autumn. They are children embracing the arrival of something new. They...
These Farmhouse Bookshelves
I'm afraid it's been too long since I wrote anything new for this, my occasional series of Saturday book recommendations. Truthfully, I've been reading up a storm, but it all felt so weirdly personal. Either I was reading very particular books intended to fuel my own book writing, or I was escaping into novels that seemed either too...
Some Beginnings Are Like This
Some beginnings are brown. There is nothing fresh or new about them. Take autumn, for instance. In my mind, it begins with the first gilded edge on the giant magnolia tree. In my mind, it begins with the weeping willow’s coppery sheen. Apparently, my mind is wrong. Has been wrong for all these years. Because autumn is beginning, and it is...
The Puzzle of Prayer
I tend to think of seasons as four separate compartments to the year. Like nesting boxes in graduated sizes. I forget that they are more like the Lego blocks in my son’s latest creation. Interlocking and overlapping. Difficult to pry apart. Recently, I stood over the sink and ate a peach. It tasted perfectly peachy, and the juice ran in rivers...