Clare Consultation, LLCPosted on September 11, 2011 by Mary Clare
Moments in the Weave
It’s 9-10-11. I just landed in Washington DC National Airport. Tonight my niece will be married on the banks of thePotomac– first of that generation. Wow – turn-turn-turn and all of that – change, for sure! Constancy, too. Expense, distance and daily matters of consequence set aside as all the family that can gathers. This is what families do. It’s one way we love each other, taking these opportunities to cinch up… Read More
Posted on September 4, 2011 by Mary Clare
Listening to the Military
It’s Labor Day. Over the course of our country’s history, one place many people have found work has been in the military. I’m not a military person. I know a few veterans and I like them but outside movies, newscasts and the anti-war protests I’ve been a part of over the years, I know almost nothing about military service. I hadn’t counted until now, but turns out six of the people who… Read More
Posted on August 14, 2011 by Mary Clare
The Streets of London and a Bridge in Portland, OR
There are weeks when I think, “I have no idea what to write in this week’s blog.” Really. Lots of them. Then, without fail, events turn. They may be close in like with bus rides, or widespread like weather, or painful like the death of a dear one. They can also seem to have nothing to do with one another, and then, out of the nowhere of random neuron firings, I see… Read More
Posted on July 23, 2011 by Mary Clare
Mr. Prude – II
“I heard from the Idol people. I’m goin’ to LA in October!” Mr. Prude was at the bus stop Tuesday morning. “I went right to the Western Union office and sent my mom a telegraph. Next thing I know my phone was ringing and she was saying, ‘I knew you could do it!’” So this is how the story of Mr. Prude was unfolding for me. Here was a man I took… Read More
Posted on July 16, 2011 by Mary Clare
Mr. Prude – I
Ever since my garage door crunched itself into an intractable accordion, trapping my car inside, I’ve been riding the bus. I like it. It takes more time, but it’s easy – and its richer. One of my companions at the bus stop most Tuesdays and Thursdays is Mr. Joey Prude. The first time we spoke was on a Thursday. That day, like every other day I’d seen Mr. Prude he sat under… Read More
Posted on July 3, 2011 by Mary Clare
Interdependence
Today is only a day. It is Saturday, the 4th of July weekend, and like every other day it has filled with moments linking up into hours, holding people and motion – holding change. This is how it went. Sun rays angled across the morning sky. I woke with two friends on my mind – two friends who are too close to death. Tom, a remarkable and kind educational leader, is here… Read More
Posted on June 26, 2011 by Mary Clare
Common Courtesy
It’s sunny in Portland OR and already in the 60’s at 12:24 p.m. on Saturday. People are out everywhere and I’m walking west, nearing the center of the Steel Bridge, one of the ten bridges spanning the Willamette River and operated by the Port of Portland. The water level is very high – highest since the flood of 1996. As I walk onto the Steel Bridge, I’m guessing the bridge operators are… Read More
Posted on June 17, 2011 by Mary Clare
Grandmothers on Fathers’ Day
Two American Indian men stand together. The Elder is Wyandotte and Choctaw of the Mississippi Valley; the younger is Walla Walla of the Columbia River. They are of two generations and they are friends. The men chat with one another during a break in a graduate class of mostly non-Indian students. The students are preparing to be teachers and counselors and taking this course on contemporary Native American life. The older man… Read More
Posted on June 10, 2011 by Mary Clare
Oppositions
Early this morning, I read email from “a cultural insider of the hacker community.” He’s a student in a class I’m teaching this term and was writing to clarify the term troll as it applies to internet hackers. A NYT article I’d assigned had used that word in a story of a man who drew people with epilepsy to an internet site that, unknown to the web surfers, presented a sensory blast… Read More
Posted on May 14, 2011 by Mary Clare
Everyday Desperate Measures
During the work week between 6 and 7 a.m., it’s a different kind of quiet on the streets of downtown Portland. All last week I walked downtown to catch the bus. The weather was warming, the air softer to the touch. I liked it. That time of morning, delivery people dot the grid of city streets. They roll dollies with boxes of produce. They use fork lifts to move reams of paper… Read More