the borders we must cross separately  ~ Naomi Shihab Nye, Making a Fist When I was 13 and my grandfather was 64, ten years younger than I am now, we both had borders we were crossing separately. I had crossed... Read More

     Fulbright gives its senior scholars a car to use when they are in living in Kathmandu. This is both a good and a bad thing.  It allows the Fulbrighters a much greater freedom of movement than they would otherwise... Read More

How grass can be nourishing in themouths of the lambs. ~ Mary Oliver, Mysteries, Yes! Poetry, You’re the Balm When we speak of a balm, of comfort, of nourishment. poetry comes to mind. The mystery of how words put in... Read More

She didn’t know where else to put them. She’d tried her sock drawer, but a mouse had found its way in and started to nibble them. Then she tried the top shelf of her closet. But the bats had mistaken... Read More

In solidarity and in support of #AmplifyMelanatedVoicesChallenge, I have deleted my scheduled post this week in an effort to silence the white noise and amplify black voices. I originally wrote an impassioned piece on my own feelings about the racial... Read More

The cattle have returned to The east pasture And I see there are newbies Among them Little ones not quite Steady on their feet But willing to jump And run, no matter If they don’t land quite Where they planned.... Read More

          “I know, my daughter, and yet, if only Moses leaves a record, who will know of your struggle, your duties, your strength, how you made freedom possible?”           “Moses will write of it.”           “Will he? I know what... Read More

As of today, I have been on the planet for 24,546 days.  I started posting this on a whiteboard in my bedroom sometime last year.  It seemed important to me to keep a tally. What I hope to never find... Read More

So what they don’t tell you about beautiful red sunsets viewed from the sky, hovering high above earth’s surface, above clouds and sparkling tiny cities and lakes, is that what is just as beautiful as the fire-red sunset sky melting... Read More

Pandemic What if you thought of it as the Jews consider the Sabbath – the most sacred of times? Cease from travel. Cease from buying and selling. Give up, just for now, on trying to make the world different than... Read More