The cry of the cicada
Gives us no sign
That presently it will die.
— Matsuo Basho
Summer slipped away quickly this year. It always does, really, but especially when the weather is uncooperative for large swaths of outdoor living time. So it goes.
The cicadas signal the dog dats of summer but also its end. We know the signs of autumn by now, and it begins with that uniquely mournful song that they make from the trees. Their time is now, the cry, and so too is ours.
The movie It’s a Wonderful Life was set in a town called Bedford Falls. Which in the real world is apparently Seneca Falls, New York. According to folklore Frank Capra spent some time in Seneca Falls the year before the film was made. Looking around, he was inspired him to set the movie there. To…
“One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight, for a very long time, of the shore.” — André Gide The truth is, we each concede more than we consent. The truth is, discovery is a shore too far for many of us. And yet we each set sail in our own way from…
“If I had to live my life again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week; for perhaps the parts of my brain now atrophied would thus have been kept active through use. The loss of these tastes is a loss of happiness,…
When I think about Father’s Day I think about the Father’s Day I spent spreading crushed stone as a base for our brick patio on a hot and humid day a dozen years ago. Spreading crushed stone with a rake and shovel is soul-crushing work, and I was miserable. At moments like that I usually…
I live my life in widening circlesthat reach out across the world.I may not complete this last onebut I will give myself to it. I circle around God, around the primordial tower.I’ve been circling for thousands of yearsand I still don’t know: am I a falcon,a storm, or a great song?— Rainer Maria Rilke This…
“Great minds have purpose, others have wishes. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortunes; but great minds rise above them.” – Washington Irving Washington Irving was right on the mark with this observation. Imagine if he’d lived to see people staring at their phones all day? There are so many distractions today, and never…