A Mystery of Childhood Mementos

I wish I’d remembered to take a photo of my childhood jewelry box. When I was about 8 I wanted one with a ballet dancer who twirled en pointe when you opened the box—all the rage at the time. Instead, my parents gave me one painted with French poodles sitting at a...

A Deathbed Reclamation

Tomorrow is November 2, the culmination of an auspicious period for honoring the dead. It is also my dad’s 101st  birthday. So I’m going to tell you a story about my dad, a kind of ghost story because it took place at his death. On May 8, 2008 I got a call at 2 am...

In the Stream Together

We are living neath the Great Big Dipper We are washed by the very same rain We are swimming in the stream together, some in power and some in pain We can worship this ground we walk on, cherishing the beings that we live beside Loving spirits will live forever,...

Ode to a Sweatshirt

As I reached happily for my well worn hooded sweatshirt again this morning, I wondered suddenly why I feel such affection for it, and for all those I’ve ever had, why I am always on the lookout for new ones to replace those that wear out, and why I am so excited when...

Happy Birthday

My birthday was ten days ago. Miraculously, the weather was lovely that day—sunny, highs in the 70s, low humidity. Highly unusual for that date. My birthday almost always falls on one of those insufferably hot, humid and airless midsummer days familiar to Minnesotans....