My Letter to Bill Irwin

Dear Bill, In 1983, I was 27 years old, married for eight years, one son born, another along the way, working for my parents as a meat cutter in the family butcher shop, mostly thinking I would be there for the foreseeable future.  TV guide had a special section each day with highlights for the…

Read More

The Ellipses

The ellipsis… I have been in love with the ellipsis since I started writing. Not everyone shares that love. My indiscriminate love affair with this punctuation annoys and occasionally infuriates editors and administrators alike. Here’s the thing…or a thing. It may not be the thing, but it’s certainly a thing. The thing is… …I don’t…

Read More

Anatomy of a Work in Progress Part V: Stealth Genius

Steven Stauffer sneaks up on you. It’s not just that he is innately quiet, the third child in a family of 6, and a natural peacemaker. No it’s something else…something else. Hmmm. If you have been following along in this series, Steven has been mentioned many times. AND If you haven’t been following along, why…

Read More

Sports and the Lack Thereof

So it’s early May. In normal years, we would be 20 plus games into the baseball season. Yes I hear you, ‘Oh no, a sports related blog!’ But fear not friends, I will try not to bore you, however you are welcome to bail out at this point. Hmm, to bail out, a baseball term;…

Read More

It Feels Like a Thursday Afternoon

  It has been over two months since I got off the train in Durham, England, and the questions I am being asked, and ask myself, have a theme. Have you enjoyed your time. Are you glad you came. What have you learned. Three simple questions with complicated answers. When I am not on the…

Read More

Dispatches from Durham – A Dip into Church Life

I’ve spent time in different churches these past few Sundays – the cathedral with sung formal liturgies and congregations of the evangelical church of England… congregations with gracious pastors, coffee time and worship music sung from screens on the wall.  Good ol’ Chris Tomlin anthems. It’s a good education as to where the Christian church is…

Read More