I’ve been on a rest stop 9000 miles down the road since March 3. Whitewater, Wisconsin – a rural community between Milwaukee and Madison where the Sweet Spot Coffee Shoppe greets the morning; farms, families, schools, businesses (conventional and cyber) and a university fill the day; and the newly opened Black Sheep Restaurant brings culinary art to the evening. In the two turns of winter to spring that I’ve spent here (last… Read More
It is early morning in the middle of April. I am on a bus leaving Oxford, UK. I have kissed my daughter on the cheek more than twice. We have hugged one another many more times than that. Each embrace as if it were the actual goodbye – the one that would leave our parting fully signified and safe. All through, we smile into each other’s eyes to fill the gaps between… Read More
Sometimes I turn to internet sources for news updates. Huffington Post, NYT, stories posted to facebook, local papers’ websites for learning about where I am along the road. Often there are stories with photos of crowd scenes. Some are international, but I’m thinking today of domestic stories – Occupy, Tea Party, vigils, protests on the National Mall or at statehouses across the country. In the case of crowd photos from the U.S.,… Read More
No, Geraldo. It’s not the clothing. It’s about looking under the hoodie. mc By now, most Americans are aware of the death of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old young man who was visiting his father’s home in a gated community of Sanford, Florida. Trayvon lost his life to a single gunshot fired by a man who lived in the same community. At the time the fatal shot fired, it was dark. Trayvon, who… Read More
“It might feel good it might sound a little somethin’ but damn the game if it don’t mean nothin what is game who got game where’s the game in life behind the game “ Public Enemy Since the dawn of the species – a moment we can only approximate since the missing link is still…well…missing — human beings have had stories. Stories help us know how to live, how to endure. Through… Read More
Today is the third above 70 degrees in Wisconsin. Locals clearly love it. So do I. And … really? 70’s in late winter here in a U.S. state that shares a rather large lake (Superior) with the Canadian state of Ontario? Maybe it’s the Texan in me who can’t imagine anyplace else acting in total defiance of the seasons. Maybe it’s my vigilant interest in our reading the trends to avert calamitous… Read More
A year ago, I spoke with Susan Stout (Voice 075), a PhD forester with primary oversight of significant research in the forests of the Allegheny of western Pennsylvania. Then, yesterday I marched with a small group of people who gathered in the small downtown area of Whitewater, WI. These things fit together. Almost 9000 miles down the road, I’m taking a break to visit here in Whitewater for the month. This is… Read More
I drove into Cincinnati from Manhattan. How many times will I be able to say that? Not many. And it was no minor feat. I’m guessing this is not the least bit surprising to any of you. Still, we say these things out loud to one another – partly as a request for validation – a “wow” that fits with the relative enormity of the accomplishment. The vast majority of Americans don’t… Read More
It happens relatively rarely in a lifetime, this date that adjusts for the inaccuracies in our calendar. I can’t help but take comfort in the reminder that human ingenuity requires human fallibility. Dine (Navajo) weavers, Yakama beadworkers, Appalachian quilters sometimes become so good at their crafts that they purposefully place mistakes in their work. It’s an act of humility, recognition that nothing humanly constructed can be perfect. Most of us don’t need… Read More
“In a world dedicated to distraction, silence and stillness terrify us.” A friend in North Dakota just sent this to me. His name is Anthony. He’s a black man, a gay man. He’s a playful prophet who lingers profoundly on the living side of dead serious. Today, his quote came from a man named Sogyal Rimpoche. The trouble with distraction seems vast. The people I’ve been spending time with here in the… Read More
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