Clare Consultation, LLCPosted on November 26, 2012 by Mary Clare
Amidst the Fuss about Mexican Immigration and Gay Marriage
Last night, I stood rinsing 50 plates, stacking in a small tower the ones that didn’t fit in the first run of the dishwasher. Behind me a loosely coordinated team of cooks fussed over flan one woman had made. “I wasn’t expecting 50…!” she whispered. “Loaves and fishes time,” said the mountainous man with the big hands and superb skill with savory and spice. These are other things I heard – “Is… Read More
Posted on October 28, 2012 by Mary Clare
Matters of Spirit before the Election — and a second podcast —
Last night there were fireworks in the rain for the last game of the season for the Portland Timbers — our professional soccer team. The season ended with a tie between the Timbers and the San Jose Earthquakes. I wasn’t at the game. And, true confession, I didn’t know about it. But the sound was enormous for 20 minutes or more. My imagination ran the gammut, but I remembered my friend Dia… Read More
Posted on July 29, 2012 by Mary Clare
Mary Says, Mitt Says
My 19-year-old niece Mary is in Israel. So is Mitt Romney. Mary arrived almost 4 weeks ago to assist with rebuilding homes of Palestinian people that have been destroyed in the areas of the country historically populated by Palestinians now being displaced. Many of those lands are occupied by Jewish settlers. These are complicated issues from the standpoint of local, national and international politics. They are less complicated but more urgent and… Read More
Posted on July 15, 2012 by Mary Clare
Four Blackberries Freshly Picked
This morning’s air was filled with water – the marine air that sometimes makes summer visits to Portland from the Oregon coast. I was up early to meet up with friends and underestimated what turned out to be enough moisture to soak almost through my rain coat over the course of my walk. Time with the people I had ventured out to meet was cozy and kind – like brown sugar on… Read More
Posted on June 15, 2012 by Mary Clare
Listening to “Madness”
I could be referring to life in the U.S.A. this week what with the celebrated obstruction of voting rights in Florida, a spate of sensationalized cannibalism and, from our president and senior legislators astonishing bipartisan horror about leaks with not even a mention of concern for human life (aka, collateral damage) or the existence of a “kill list” in the first place. This, my friends, is surely madness whether we are privy… Read More
Posted on May 24, 2012 by Mary Clare
“We have to talk about these things”
I am back in Portland. Three weeks, now. Shortly after my return I receive email with the subject line: yes-youmadeit/Dr. Dapo! My dear and long-time friend, Dr. Dapo Sobomehin (voice 90 in 100 Voices – Americans Talk about Change), wanted to get together for coffee. This morning we finally made it to the corner of Hawthorne and SE 37th for a few hours of catching up. Every time we meet, I am compelled… Read More
Posted on February 19, 2012 by Mary Clare
Keeping Courage
I’ve just spent the past three days crossing the Southern tier states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama into Georgia. I’ve spent precious time with relatives – kin by birth and kin by choice and community. Along the slow roll of land falling toward and then rising up from the Mississippi River’s reliable flow I found story after story, learning after learning. In the three years since I last drove these Southern highways… Read More
Posted on January 14, 2012 by Mary Clare
What am I Doing Here? OCCUPYING CHANGE.
Here we are. In crisis. Together. The truth of the oft cited Chinese logograph for crisis is that it holds two characters, one connoting danger and the other signifying a point of uncertainty, a critical moment, a point of profound and unsettling change. This is vastly more realistic than the more New Age rendition that misattributes the notion of opportunity to the second character. We are in crisis. These years are more… Read More
Posted on December 18, 2011 by Mary Clare
EX:Change Gift Idea — 100 VOICES
Listen to the voices of your neighbors. One hundred voices from across the U.S. All talking about change. All speaking their dreams. Give the book to yourself, to friends or family. Join us in the EX:Change as it continues to offer its invitation to all of us — Listen to each other. See what is there in those with whom you think you have nothing in common. See what is there in… Read More
Posted on August 7, 2011 by Mary Clare
Climate — Listening to know for sure
I have a friend in South Dakota who lives in a town that flooded last month. It was near completely under water. I have another friend who lives in Akiak, Alaska who told me about the tundra taking on a smell, thawing for the first time in his life or in the lives of his ancestors who have lived there for many thousand years. Then there was the photo my dad managed to… Read More