because perhaps i have been here so long, the story can’t be told without the pictures. and because i have been here for so long, there are so, so many pictures. some so old, you may have seen them before. but regardless, they tell the story of lives. firsts. and of blessing granted. pictures…
Category: story
So, this.
When a person writes in the same place for ten years to not ask “what am I doing here?” is unnatural. Perhaps this is what I have aspired to all this time. Maria Popova’s BrainPicking Finally a place where the purpose is not to market oneself, which seems like just the scratch of the surface…
Worlds apart
Originally posted on ChezWhat?:
it is good to hear the tale of someone who has met success by being inspired and following through. -David Adamshick The fluorescent lights always buzzed. Sometimes, after being there for a long time, I wore them like a heavy coat I couldn’t wait to take off at home. The plastic…
Playing Candyland.
When a 6-year old calls out to you, “Let’s play Candyland!”, how do you respond? Someone in our house is continually trying to throw Candyland away. Trying to convince the kids they are “too old for Candyland,” (whaaat?) Perhaps the most important part of my job these days is saying, “Ok, Candyland, not Uno?” and…
Rarified Places: Kalmykia
The cars in the industrial grease and creosote smelling stations had names on their sides of strange places. One such place was “Dagestan”. My silly mind went to Doggystan. This Russian train is clearly marked to go to Moscow, which was the hub for nearly all this 11-time-zone spanning country. Amidst all the metal, people,…
Stories from Russia: Easter
The place: One of 20 some ethnic republics inside of Russia, this one with a history going back to the Khans and Turks. Chuvashia. Where even Russian isn’t the first language. A gentle, quiet people with deep hearts. I am visiting their schools, traveling with a staunch senior lady who is first in my eyes…
Political Correctness (a repost from 2005)
Published in 2005, long before Portlandia… If you have ever listened to Dandy Warhols or listened to Damali Ayo talk about Portland types, it’s clear that I am not alone in noticing Portland types are often a sort of..different. I say this with love, I am a Portlander and I work with Portland “types”. Recently…
Strange fruit: where I tell about a person who I don’t want to fix my tire
Once upon a time, there was a teacher. This teacher was asked to do many, many things. In her enthusiasm, she often (too often) said “Of course!”. She learned eventually that she had to stop doing that. In one such instance, she ended up with a student who could be considered, at the stage in…
Missing Ecuador
Como la tierra a la lluvia Como el mar espera al rio Así espero tu regreso A la tierra del olvido … Esta cancion fue muy popular cuando estaba en Ecuador, la canto en mi miente, y pienso en regresar a este lugar que me despertaron a mi tantas cosas
Worlds apart
it is good to hear the tale of someone who has met success by being inspired and following through. -David Adamshick The fluorescent lights always buzzed. Sometimes, after being there for a long time, I wore them like a heavy coat I couldn’t wait to take off at home. The plastic seat with the writing…
Giving it away
So anyone who has ever walked outside their home may have come across a beggar. And in some places, like here in Oregon, the beggars have learned that perching themselves at freeway exits or near where alot of cars have to stop and then start can be a good place to beg, because people give…
Walking with a 2-year old
She whose name means “wild, natural and beautiful” in this red poncho picture soaked her clothes with a sneaker wave at Pacific City, and like a true champion, rode home in her underpants without a complaint. My youngest daughter is 2 and a half. I get several quality hours with just her a couple times…
