Oswego
Entries 525
Page 10 of 21
The Gift of Children (Revisited) in Daydreaming on the Porch
This Christmas season has been especially difficult for me. I lost my mother two years ago after taking care of her for ten years when she had dementia. Last Christmas was, as expected, strang...
The power of place in sanctuaries of the spirit in Daydreaming on the Porch
Let there be intervals when we shall do nothing, think nothing, plan nothing, but just lay ourselves on the green lap of nature and “rest awhile. From Streams in the Desert Two days ago. The aft...
Every evening and late into the following morning, I sit on the long and spacious sofa in the den of our family home in the historic district of town — wistful, sad, hopeful — knowing this beauti...
How has aging come to this? in Daydreaming on the Porch
This past Thursday, a funeral was held for the grandmother of a friend’s son-in-law. Although I didn’t know her, I was affected by her passing for a number of reasons, all having to do with how ...
My Mayberry existence — once upon a time in Daydreaming on the Porch
Years ago I lived in a small college town in near a large city, but not too close. It felt like it was out a ways from everything. If it hadn’t been a college town, I would have thought I really ...
Ten ways to confront the climate crisis without losing hope in Daydreaming on the Porch
The world as we knew it is coming to an end, and it’s up to us how it ends and what comes after. It’s the end of the age of fossil fuel, but if the fossil-fuel corporations have their way the end...
Why a movie made such a huge impact on my life in Daydreaming on the Porch
An extraordinary movie, “Breaking Away,” once reached for my soul and lifted it higher and higher in a year where I had descended to the lowest point in my life months earlier trying to escape th...
Our aging masks in Daydreaming on the Porch
This art work ages as you pass by. Amazing! I fall somewhere in the last quarter of this spectrum. But it’s what’s behind these shifting masks that’s the key to everything. It’s a pity most peo...
Revisiting Black Creek in Daydreaming on the Porch
I am looking now at a photograph on the wall just above the scene of a creek in northwest Oregon. It is of another special place, across the country deep in the piney woods of southern Mississipp...
What’s going to happen to local news in small towns and cities? in Daydreaming on the Porch
Although I moved away from my first career, journalism, almost exactly 30 years ago, I still maintain an avid interest in the present and future well-being of this institution that is so vital to...
This explains it all in Daydreaming on the Porch
Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ...
Slice of life in Daydreaming on the Porch
You know I was once your age, too. We’re all messed up in some way. Father to teenage son in a French short film Browsing in the bargain books section of Barnes & Noble recently, I couldn’t...
Autumn in coastal South Carolina in Daydreaming on the Porch
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; To bend with...
Ultimate night owl in Daydreaming on the Porch
Ah, it has come to me. This is what I will write about: the middle of the night. What shall I call it? The still of the early morining hours? The reverential hush of deepest eventide? It has be...
What was life like before the Internet? in Daydreaming on the Porch
Not long ago I was asked a curious question by two very intelligent and keenly perceptive recent college graduates. It was this: “What was life like before the Internet?” Well, of course I cou...
Beauty All Around in Daydreaming on the Porch
I don’t travel far and wide. It’s been two years since I’ve even been 40 miles from where I live. But rather than rue this situation, I have learned that the greatest measure of happiness and ...
Deep in the night, a long time ago in Daydreaming on the Porch
There was a time years ago beginning in 2003 and ending abruptly in January 2010 when I was rather “addicted” to online chat, spending way too much time in one particular chatroom. I hate to e...
It’s nearing the end of October, the weather is much cooler, and the air has that distinctive feel of Autumn, that magical time of year when leaves change color and long-ago memories of this spec...
A poignant farewell in Daydreaming on the Porch
I’m sitting here this morning in the big sunny den where I spent so many countless days, months and years with my mother when I was taking care of her as she declined with steadily worsening deme...
Ode to Wal-Mart in Daydreaming on the Porch
I yield. I confess. Although I love the romanticized, idealized dream of a small town Main Street, with the little guy doing business in his cozy little fortress, not much happens these days on M...
A quiet and tranquil evening at home in Daydreaming on the Porch
I walk up the steps to the porch after a long, tired but glad to be home. The streets are quiet, the sounds of children are gone from the sidewalks. I notice once again the tall oaks lining the s...
The weirdly beautiful world of fungi in Daydreaming on the Porch
Regarding my rituals of walking in the woods at nearby nature preserves or state parks, I said to someone recently, “I mostly am looking either down at the ground or up into the trees or sky.” ...
Acceptance versus rejection in Daydreaming on the Porch
BK Shivani is a teacher in the Brahma Kumaris spiritual movement in India. In one of her talks, she says, (and I am paraphrasing) Someone, somewhere, at some moment will not meet our expectations...
Brave New World? in Daydreaming on the Porch
Until a few months ago, I didn’t know much about Hinduism, but then I discovered learning opportunities through teachers and sages on YouTube, and my horizons have expanded. Previously, I’d just...
“Ordinary mysticism” in Daydreaming on the Porch
There are times when I feel most connected to life in the awareness of fleeting experiences that come to me in little epiphanies during the day. It doesn’t matter where I am. They are predicated ...
