INSIDE THE BOX
A Farewell
Our last post highlighted the nostalgia many of us feel this time of year as we say goodbye to summer and prepare ourselves for the colder months ahead. . . .
September Song
The lyrics of September Song, first introduced in the 1938 Broadway musical, Knickerbocker Holiday, highlight the nostalgia many of us feel this time of year while also encouraging us to embrace, relish, and make the most of these precious days.
Love Like Salt
Why are we humans so prone to take for granted those things that are most essential to our well being? . . .
Au Vieux Jardin
Our family just returned from a whirlwind trip to Paris, Munich, Salzberg, and Rome. For me, one of the highlights of that trip was the time I spent wandering around Munich's English Garden. . . .
Small Kindnesses
Mother Teresa reportedly said that, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
At Last the New Arriving
Today we’re sharing a poem in solidarity with all the people in our world for whom it’s unsafe to love who they love or be who they are . . .
I Happened to be Standing
It’s been unseasonably cool, cloudy, and rainy during my post-graduation visit to North Carolina. This morning, I sighed in disappointment when I awoke to the sound of more rain . . .
It Couldn’t Be Done
It’s graduation season! Never has that been so true for our family as it is this year. . . .
Good Bones
Listening to the news these days, it’s easy to despair about the state of the world and to believe, as Maggie Smith does, that “it’s at least fifty percent terrible.” The question is: what do we do with such observations?
Life Doesn’t Frighten Me
Black History Month arrived this year in the wake of yet another horrifying instance of police brutality against a black man . . .
For a New Beginning
As January comes to a close, I’m reflecting on its significance as a month of new beginnings. . . . To which new beginning did your heart call you this month?
When Giving Is All We Have
‘Tis the season of giving. Of making lists, scouring stores, waiting in long lines, and hauling home bags weighed down with fashionable clothes and trendy gadgets. The frenzied consumerism that has come to characterize the winter holidays in the United States leaves some feeling cynical about the season. . . .
Winter-Time
December is a month made for children. It’s hot cocoa and marshmallows; sleigh rides and snow angels; candle lighting; carol singing; dreidel spinning; and stockings brimming over with treats.
Dawn Revisited
Most evenings, I try to think of something about the day that I’m particularly grateful for. There are usually plenty of things to choose from . . . Some days, though, the thing I’m most thankful for is that the day is ending.