living in light of eternity
It's really not hard to conjure up an entire place and time with just a few choice words. Who says "bully-o!" anymore? or "grody"? (Well, I might, once in a while, but then I also persist in eating creamed chip beef, so apparently I am not really all that rooted in the times.) Certain foods,... Continue Reading →
I was in third grade when I figured out I was... different. My beloved teacher, Mrs. Sands, made me stay in from recess to clean out my desk. She showed me the other desks, pencils neatly lying in the pencil tray, notebooks and a couple papers stacked inside. Then she showed me my own desk,... Continue Reading →
When we started walking, the sun was out, the day was blue and gold and green, hopeful. By the time we started back, the sky was dark, heavy with rain, which fell at an astonishing rate -- 2 billion drops per second square, or thereabouts -- and soaked us through. That was not the plan!... Continue Reading →
I don't feel like writing, some days. Don't feel like making supper, or cleaning out the refrigerator and identifying the source of that smell. Don't feel like doing much of anything, truth be told, but snugging up under the covers and reading about somebody else... somebody who does something besides pull up the covers. So... Continue Reading →
You gotta love helpful warning labels: Caution -- do not sit under coconut tree. Warning -- rat poison causes cancer in laboratory rats. Ten cuidado -- do not rub jalapeno juice in your eyes. But those flammable pajama labels are so, so important, because I was all set to build a campfire in the kids'... Continue Reading →
Books, poems, paper airplanes, walks in the woods, caterpillars, magnifying glasses, music, tasty things that can be measured, fascinating people, unbelievable tales of adventure and derring-do, wonder, telescopes, paint, hammer and nails, candle wax, beeswax, curls of pencil shavings, smudges, laughing, brain teasers, trivia, hearts poured out on paper, challenge, reward, curiosity, dreams. School starts... Continue Reading →
January 2 ought to be known as Anticlimax Day. The turkey is getting a little... ripe, the lights are coming down, the New Year's Resolutions have already been broken, the batteries in the new toys have died. The parties are over, the eggnog's run out, the radio is playing the same old songs from October... Continue Reading →
Just got to see my favorite Broadway show of all time, now repackaged as my new favorite movie. May I just say: Wow. I read a snatch of review: "there will always be people who like overblown emotion," smug critic said. I kept replaying his words in my mind as I watched (and yes, I... Continue Reading →
He wants to play like Chris Thile, wants his fingers to fly across the strings, wants the notes to dance. We gave him a little mandolin for Christmas, an armful of song. His excitement is contagious -- what could be! The little polished bit of rosewood is a dream, a possibility. It reminds me of... Continue Reading →
Want to share a video with you of our brave friends, Peter and Alana, and their beautiful girls, Katie and Ellie. Ellie suffered an aneurysm five weeks into her life on this planet, and has since spent way more than her share of time in the hospital. Usually when I think of Ellie, I think... Continue Reading →
Catherine's Letters 