Post 31/2020 Thursday 1 October "You paint a big picture of Michigan," my late friend Ray Schlegel once told me. The comment surprised me, yet on reflection I saw his point. Michigan has weighed heavily in our travels. As it has this week. We took our "home bubble" on a fall color/walking visit to west …
Post 30/2020 Tuesday 15 September Pandemic hotspots. Climate wildfires. Hurricane Sally. Midwestern floods. White House denials. A changing world stares us in the face. It's right there before our eyes. We're pushed to comprehend it all. In the middle of it all, I puzzle: How can my thoughts and actions make a dent in this …
Post 29/2020 Monday 31 August A trip to JCPenney hardly registers as a day's noteworthy activity. Nevertheless, our recent visit to the going-out-of-business retailer yielded more than the items we bought. I asked the salesclerk how long she had worked there. "Nineteen years," she said. I thanked her for all the customers she has served …
Tuesday 4 August Post 28/2020 Bubble #1 has morphed into Bubble and Squeak #2. I'll try to use the name of that English dish to good effect as I muse on things past, present and future during this time of face coverings, handwashing, social distancing, and testing. In these occasional posts, I hope to hit …
Bubble #1 Sunday 19 July 2020. This is the first of occasional blogs I'll write during the idling phase of my weekly Cogitation. Welcome to Bubble. I've named it for the social distancing bubble that's incumbent on all during the devastating days of the coronavirus pandemic, with a special nod to those who use their …
Saturday 27 June 2020 I know, I know, last week was to be my last blog for a while. Well, shucks, call it phaseal transition syndrome. An antidote to withdrawal pains. Slowly letting go. Almost there. Not quite ready to pause for the "Silent Eye" moment (the technique that improves human visual attention, applied to …
Cogitation 25 Friday 19 June 2020 / No. 255 since 30 November 2014 / last post 'till who knows when. Once upon a time I was the avowed decimator of thistles. My brothers and I were assigned to dig out thistles from the fence rows on our farm (and mustard and yellow rocket plants in …
Cogitation 24 Friday 12 June 2020 Featured image: The Greencroft Goshen campus offers fine options for meditative strolls, taking physical distancing in stride. "Walking's old hat, blogging's not," I wrote in my first blog, 30 November 2014, adding, "Marty and I have been walking for exercise and pleasure for more than two decades. I'll be …
Cogitation 23 Friday 5 June 2020 Violence doesn't have problems. Viruses don't have problems. Mother Nature doesn't have problems. It's my/our problem. It's about how human beings address problems. In matters of human relations, illness, natural disasters, we can either do the right thing--for me that's according to the dictates of Scripture, along with reasoned …
Cogitation 22 Friday 29 May 2020 Zoom: A sharp upward movement, like an airplane taking off. Or a kite zipping high into the sky. Or a loud low hum or buzz. Or zeroing in on a subject with a camera, binoculars or microscope zoom lens. Or a catchy song for kindergarten children called, Zoom Zoom …
It's About Now 