Tending the moments of our lives with care

Tending the moments of our lives with care

I went out to the garden boxes after 8 pm. I did not feel like going, but it was the only window I was going to have in the week for picking the beans. The plants were weighted down with the harvest. Small row by small row, I pulled the beans off one by one –...
Soaking up vicarious joy…

Soaking up vicarious joy…

Summer hit our household with a few viruses, a hospital stay, and some serious attention to essentials. Sometimes, the seasons outside do not line up well with the seasons of our lives. So it goes. I’m mostly staying home. Resting a lot. Paying attention to some big...
Gratitude and maintaining perspective

Gratitude and maintaining perspective

Gratitude is our invitation at Thanksgiving, a feast to celebrate the work and gifts of harvest. In my corner of the world, it was the second consecutive year of drought for many farming families. My garden was well watered by the sprinklers, but I crowded the space....
Riding waves with grace

Riding waves with grace

Every summer, I wait and hope for our plans to cooperate with the weather and give us a day or two on the lake with (my parents’ beautiful) boat. We need the sunshine to keep us warm enough and the wind to stay mild enough that we can pull the tube behind the boat....
Claiming rest and re-creation this summer

Claiming rest and re-creation this summer

There are always lots of questions in a house with children, and the most common one in my world right now is “What’s the plan for today, Mom?” During the school year, we fall into a rhythm of learning and activities, but the summer has all this space for questions...