Our neighbors down the street rented an RV. It sat in front of their house for a couple days. It looked like this: I’ve done plenty of traveling already this summer, but something about seeing an RV parked on my street got me thinking of winding roads, undiscovered places, and days ahead of you that […]
Tales from the Garden 
July 6, 2012 by
Tale #1 – Heat and Drought We have a high of 106 today in Bolingbrook. 106! This. Never. Happens. My plants don’t seem to mind the heat, but they’re all a bit peaked because we’ve had so little rain. We don’t water our lawn (seems like a waste to me – almost none of our neighbors […]
“Historic Preservation is a Priority” 
June 29, 2012 by
The Chicago Tribune reported this week: “The Bolingbrook Village Board on Tuesday called on residents to observe National Historic Preservation Week next week…” What does it mean to observe a week of historic preservation when your community is barely fifty years old? Here’s the full article: Bolingbrook Looks Ahead to National Historic Preservation Week. Of course, a […]
Ten on Thursday
June 29, 2012 by
Some updates… 1. We’re back from a family wedding and reunion on the Jersey Shore – which is a beautiful place. Forget about the reality TV show. (Although those palms, above, aren’t native, admittedly). The wedding was beautiful. And that’s me under the gazebo, officiating over my cousin’s nuptials. Thank goodness the sound system was […]
“Take 12” for June
June 14, 2012 by
“Take 12” is a project to take 12 photos on the 12th of every month. I’ve been doing this all year (admittedly, sometimes on the 13th and 14th), and haven’t quite gotten around to posting here. So finally, 12 pictures from my life on the 12th of June, 2012: Nasturtiums in my garden. Bright orange […]
A Week of Pastoral Conversations 
June 12, 2012 by
A sampler of the kinds of things I talk about with folks. These conversations varied from 5 minutes to 2 hours, and took place last week. Some were formally scheduled meetings, some casual conversation, some one-on-one in a coffee shop, some over email or text. Anything pastorally sensitive I’ve made as vague as possible. Monday: […]
The trash picker
June 5, 2012 by
As I walk our dog, I sometimes find myself picking up trash. It amazes me that people throw stuff on the ground, sometimes from their cars. When I was little, the dear mother of some friends I grew up with was a “trash picker.” Her name was Melinda and whenever we took walks around the […]
On Spring Cleaning
June 5, 2012 by
An article I wrote for The Young Women Clergy Project. “The Red Barn” was three stories of junk and treasure that stood for decades on the campus of Gould Farm, a long-lived residential rehab center in Massachusetts where I volunteered for two years in my early twenties. It had a dirt floor, reeked of mildew […]
Any May a Beautiful Change
May 28, 2012 by
This post in honor of my friend Katharine’s new book, Any Day a Beautiful Change. It’s about the way life changes, knocks you around, and surprises you with some grace. Katharine’s big change was the collision of motherhood, marriage, and ministry, but even if you have no connection with any of those things, her writing […]
A Tearoom in Corn Country
May 24, 2012 by
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit a tearoom in the middle of nowhere. Clotted cream, lemon balm jelly, finger sandwiches, the whole bit. We’re in Iowa this week, spending time with Adam’s family while he does some work out here. His grandmother invited me to join her “Red Hat” group for a trip to […]
