Music of the Mountains

Cute little happy toddler girl running on nature path in Glenveagh national park in Ireland. Smiling and laughing baby child having fun spending family vacations in nature. Traveling with small kids.

Recent events are heralded as a generational shift. It’s about time. With it comes an optimism for a saner future. Phrases such as “passing the torch”, “the power of hope” and “exhilaration of being on the cusp of a brighter day” are making headlines. The vocabulary surrounding this is interesting, too. Words such as dignity, […]

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New Jersey

A little boy plays in sand while his mother kneels over him and helps.

Four adult siblings relearn the values of home when visiting for their father’s Celebration of Life. The four of us decided that the Celebration of Life event for our father should take place in the small town in New Jersey where he lived for over 50 years and where we grew up. He moved away […]

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A Stubborn Pandemic

A male figure walks through a dark tunnel towards a dramatic circle of light.

We don’t have a packaged remedy for this pandemic. In the early days of the one we just experienced, we sold quite a lot of products that boosted the immune system. Everyone, it seemed, was interested in whatever defensive support they could get, even as the world we knew changed and we volunteered to isolate. […]

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RESTORATION

Carpenter using orbital electric sander in a retro vintage workshop.

There are a couple restoration “projects” in my shop awaiting my attention and energy. At the time of committing to one of them, a friend of mine said “just leave it in position and patch it there”. His opinion, not misguided, highlights the difference between repairing something and restoring something. Repairing is simply to make […]

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THAT SMILE

A sidewalk chalk artist works on a recreation of the Mona Lisa. Only the face is finished.

I sat comfortably at the Hollow Square conference table in my usual back left-hand corner position, focused and ready to take notes. The presenter, an older gentleman in a suit with a bow tie, queued up music and began a slide show. The track was Nat King Cole’s version of Mona Lisa, a song written […]

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Shared Experiences

Man sitting on a wooden bench

Over the past few months, life circumstances have been such that I have had some significant “shared experiences’ with the time afterwards for observation and reflection. [Please click on the title above to continue reading] I’ve learned there is a huge difference between doing something together vs. going through something together. The former is almost […]

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Hall of Mirrors

A wall of mirrors showing distorted reflections

She entered the room in grace – positive, compassionate and confident. It was in her eyes, her smile, her touch. I observed her interactions with her patient and I could see that what she does and who she is are intricately woven. When she later explained that she came out of retirement for more of […]

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4G

Grandfather with grandson.

With great excitement, we welcomed the newest member of our family to a scheduled photo shoot to capture for posterity four generations in a single photo. I know this can be digitally manipulated now, but we know we were all together in that same space and time. When we walked in, the photographer took control, […]

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The Weak Ties that Bind Us

Young barista serving coffee to male customer in cafe

Molting is the shedding of “skin, feathers, or a shell to make way for new growth”. We move through our lives in a pulsing progression, development or even reinvention of ourselves. Sometimes, molting for us is just a trial run as we search for something that resonates with what we feel is our authentic selves. […]

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Southern Herb