My parents were not big garden/yard hobby people. They preferred to read, watch TV, do crosswords or travel. In my first marriage, my deeply introverted husband desired to garden in a personal, no-talking zone. Being an extrovert and a garden…
Read more »Among the bills in my mail on Monday afternoon came an envelope with big red print on the outside: “Emergency! Food Crisis in Brazil: 800 helpless children facing death by starvation.” I confess here and now that I usually just…
Read more »My younger daughter, a sophomore in college, is spending the last days of her Spring Break with me in Northern California. While in route from her friend’s home in Reno, she starts texting me with requests: vanilla flavored coffee creamer,…
Read more »About two weeks ago my brother called to tell me that my mother was in the Emergency room and he was on his way there. I am the sibling that lives hundreds of miles away from home and he is…
Read more »The Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the start of lent, has long been called Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras if you speak French) or Pancake Tuesday if you come out of England. For some reason, growing up Lutheran in the Pacific Northwest,…
Read more »Daniel Deffenbaugh is an Associate Professor of Religion at Hastings College and a gardner. He is also a theologian and author of the book Learning the Language of the Fields: Tilling & Keeping as Christian Vocation. I like his book…
Read more »It is looking like drought time is coming over us here in Northern California. After a year of floods we’ve now seen two years of blue sky and now we’re midway through the third winter of little to no rain….
Read more »This is a true story. Last saturday I went to one of the local mega-food grocery stores for the week’s shopping. As I drove down one of the parking lanes I noticed a young man standing next to the front…
Read more »Part of what makes a holiday a holiday is the food. If its the Fourth of July, there should be hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill. Valentine’s day involves chocolate. Halloween involves candy as a whole and even Flag…
Read more »Last year I cooked what I then declared would be my last turkey for Thanksgiving Dinner. Not that I have anything in particular against turkey in general, I don’t. I kinda like turkey meat, especially cold with cheddar cheese in…
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