coronavirus

  • Phlox

    Phlox

    I am astounded by phlox.  You know, the tiny little perennial flower that pops up in bright pink, purple, and white this time of year on hillsides and rock walls.  We planted a couple of small bits on our patio around some larger planters four or five years ago and each year it comes back…

  • Quilt

    Quilt

    “What’s that yellow thing behind you?” asked a book club friend on our shared zoom call.  I turned to look behind me at a pair of quilts that are draped over the rocking chair in my bedroom.  Made up of squares from the long-outgrown clothes of my children, these quilts are in the background of…

  • The Story

    The Story

    It’s Good Friday, and in this coronavirus time, we’re not gathering in our churches for the Stations of the Cross or for the services we’re used to.  We’re not venerating the Cross or singing the solemn songs together.  It may be harder for Christians to enter into the Story than it’s been in Holy Weeks…

  • Normal

    Normal

    “I just can’t wait until this is all over and things can go back to normal.” I felt the fatigue and worry in my friend’s voice as she spoke these words, and I feel it, too.  I want to see my preschool music students face-to-face, want to gather with my friends and family.  I want…

  • Real

    Real

    I remember one morning from a few years ago.  It was very early, before the sun was even up, and I was driving my high school daughter to a waiting bus for her Washington DC class trip. I hugged her and watched the bus pull away, and on the way home, saw the sun was…

  • Crown

    Crown

    I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.  Not even in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, when the sky was empty of planes and no one knew just what horror might come next.  Back then, it took a few days for me to feel safe and appropriate about bringing my babies out for a…