Clare Consultation, LLCNew Year’s Story
I live in a house that was built in 1898. It’s my home. And it’s home to my daughter, even as she lives her new and bountiful adult life 6000 miles away for now. I’ve been paying on my mortgage for 9 years now. I’m one of the lucky ones for whom timing and other circumstances have made “ownership” possible. I love my home. There is a man. A white man who… Read More
Intersections
Walking south on NE 28th Ave. under my new umbrella (the other one blew out in yesterday’s storm), I came to the corner at Flanders St. A man in full raingear – the heavy orange plastic stuff – stood on tiptoes behind an enormous canvass sign. The sign was as orange as the man. Although a square, it was situated as a diamond to warn oncoming traffic of the roadwork ahead. The… Read More
Just Listen
Yesterday I came home, grabbed the blue nylon bag I use for light trips to the grocery store, and took off in search of … well … Rice Dream. Really – borderline hippie; soy, dairy and gluten free. It’s my latest answer to the love song of my sweetest tooth. To walk to the grocery store, I take the back steps and follow the sidewalk around to the front of the house. … Read More
Stories on the Night After the Election
Jarred the grocery store guy told me a story last night. We were talking about his work – he’s something of a mid management type with responsibility for ensuring the identification and obstruction of shop lifters. “Yeah. I can recognize them because I’ve been there. I wasn’t there long and I’m not proud of it, but that’s a big part of how I know them when I see them.” Jarred is in… Read More
We are Different & We are the Same: Voting from Here
The United States is voting. Or at least that’s an option for the next four days. Because of the way my mind works…I’ve been thinking about that. Voting. In the past 48 hours or so I’ve been in more-than-passing conversations with people – all American citizens – who, in the history of our country would not have been eligible to vote. That means they were variously (or in some combination) immigrants, women,… Read More
When our Greatest Hope is Boring
There is a quickening in human consciousness. Yep, right here in and among the species of which readers, bloggers, warriors and prophets are a part. I saw this quickening on the road and still see it daily. I heard it in American voices across the 100 days of the EX:Change interviews and daily I continue hearing it. A quickening is an acceleration, a vitalizing, a coming or returning to life. Ours is… Read More
Community: A Change from the Disconnect
It is very counter culture in a weird way to talk about all of us being good friends and helping each other. Rabbi Ariel Stone I’ve just watched a man in his 60’s, I’d guess, getting on his bicycle. Earlier he came into this café, his body bent nearly to 90 degrees, maybe 110. He used a cane to walk. He ordered, took his breakfast roll and coffee and left. Maybe… Read More
Easter and Reaching Across the Aisle
Yesterday a friend sent a text. Charles is a Mandan-Hidatsa Indian from North Dakota who has for years been the lead public relations executive for a local non-profit. He was asking if I knew of Easter celebrations in town. Then there was Mike’s status update on Facebook. Mike is Jewish and he was wishing all his Christian friends “a wonderful and redemptive Easter.” This morning in a small gathering, Julie, a mom… Read More
Tigers and Valentines
“I tell you the more I think, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” Vincent van Gogh So, love is the thing I haven’t wanted to write about. Maybe it’s not even appropriate for this blog. Actually, I’ve given some thought to that possible inappropriateness and decided to reject it. The whole motive for the EX:Change project and its road trip can be boiled… Read More