Someone said, It isn't the load that wears us down. It's the way that we carry it. They might've added, It's the fact that we carry it, at all. I was in the job market for many, many years, under-qualified, as I worked to support … Read more

I opened a small, out-of-print bookshop, all by myself, in a rough neighbourhood. One day not long after, through the window, I was watching some men who seemed to be hot-wiring a car. Then, they got out and started to come into my shop. … Read more

My barely school-aged children decided to become independent in a big city when we had to ride a streetcar home. Instead of standing beside me, they spread out, taking whatever seats were available. So, they weren't paying attention at … Read more

"BE AWARE OF RATTLESNAKES AND POISON IVY!" reads a warning about hiking in the Nez-Perce Clearwater National Forest in Idaho, USA. Such a sign didn't exist when I went skipping ahead of my family on a sunny morning across the ancient … Read more

I was hosting a seniors' cable show with others, awhile back. Someone had asked an elderly gospel quartet to come down and be interviewed. They were called The Old Hims, since that was mostly what they sang. The four men had a great … Read more

When I was a kid in Idaho's Bitterroot Wilderness, between the Snake and Salmon Rivers, one of the walls of our ranch was the Payette National Forest, with no neighbours nearer than 50 miles. Our front door was exactly in line with the … Read more

I am sitting here by my big window, watching dawn bear its daily message. Today, it rises pinkly, turning to crimson with streaks of purples and blues in the morning sky. Every sunrise is unique in God's hands, designed as a useful … Read more

In early February, I had just left an art store with supplies to make earrings when I saw a city parking officer put an extra coin in an expired meter rather than write a ticket for a battered old car. Her small kindness made me … Read more

I'm headed up the hill, going home. It is Mother's Day, and a sad-faced man is coming towards me with some flowers. "For your mother?" I say, smiling at the bouquet. He doesn't smile back, but he stops, as though he needs to tell … Read more

We had just finally found a place to rent, a former karate studio over a downtown business with a beat-up wreck of a kitchen that looked unusable. Moving in that night, I fed the children and put them to bed before retiring ourselves. … Read more