Category: Life with a Reader
-
An Exaltation of Larks
A little madness in the spring is wholesome even for a king. -Emily Dickinson And what could be madder than the English language? Here’s some perfectly grammatical sentences allowed in English. Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo.Will Will Smith smith?The old man the boat.The complex houses married and single soldiers and their families.A boat shipping boat transports…
-
In Poetry We Say…
Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar. –Percy Bysshe Shelley The Donkey When fishes flew and forests walked And figs grew upon thorn,Some moment when the moon was blood Then surely I was born.With monstrous head and sickening cry And…
-
Lessons From a Princess
Catherine, Princess of Wales, has appeared on many ‘best-dressed’ lists. Does she have something to teach us? Here are some observations. A princess wears what the occasion calls for. She is traditional and appropriate. She wears formal clothes in the evening, pretty dresses to a garden party, hats in the day, jewels at night and…
-
More Than Was Lost Has Been Found
Try reading this poem out loud. When faces called flowers float out of the groundand breathing is wishing and wishing is having—but keeping is downward and doubting and neverit’s april (yes, april, my darling) it’s spring!yes the pretty birds frolic as spry as can flyyes the little fish gamble as glad as can be(yes the…
-
The Selected Diaries: 5 Things
In February I started journaling again because I was feeling so dry. Inspiration had trickled to the tiniest stream. That’s how I came to this Friday morning and nothing ready to publish here. In looking over the last few weeks, I see snippets of things to share but none of it makes a real article.…
-
Create Your Own Happily-Ever-After
I have learned to read marriage advice books with a grain of salt. There might be some small idea that really works for me. I don’t ever expect to do exactly as the author says. And in the process, I noticed there are not a lot of creative resources for the happily married. Most marriage…
-
Pattern Language
We miss so much because we don’t know the exact word to describe what we see. I’m on a mission to notice and appreciate beauty. I heard recently that we only notice and talk about the things we have specific names for. You cannot talk about something if you don’t have a word for it.…
-
The Bookmark: January
Henri Matisse, 1890, Still Life with Books and Candle, oil on canvas, Realism I’ve been making reading plans for 2026 based on what I learned last year. The biggest revelation was slow reading is enjoyable reading. I also rediscovered the classics are really good books. Bookclub: The Q The Q by Beth Brower, 2021, 477…
-
A Year of Beauty
Beauty is my word in 2026. The first thing I do after choosing my word is write a definition. Beauty: n. a subjective quality that brings pleasure to the senses or mind Synonyms: loveliness, pretty, radiance The first Bible verse that came to mind when I thought of beauty was about the Proverbs 31 woman.…
-
Meaningful Quiet Time With God
Sometimes I sit down for a quiet time and feel unsure what to do. I waste time trying to know if I should read this or that, I don’t have pen or pencil handy, or procrastinate because I don’t have a plan. I see my devotional time like a vine. Without a structure, it sprawls…
So She Reads 