I recently finished reading China Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart. It was recommended to me by a friend and faithful H2O Intern named Tanner. Her recommendation came the day after I finished reading Danielle Daniel’s Daughters of the Deer. I was … Continue reading
I love trend-spotting. For instance, Marci and I have recently noticed the decline of the single, steady, upraised hand as a gesture of gratitude from the driver of one car to another who has yielded his or her right of … Continue reading
It’s the beginning of the best month of the year: mid-September to mid-October! I finally decided to join the Summit Metro Parks Fall Hiking Spree (“the largest and longest-running event of its kind in the nation”), and I always feel … Continue reading
There was a moment yesterday when I felt like I was standing on a different planet. The landscape around me featured dazzling white soil, matte black rocks, and a sea of tepid, rose-colored water. It was weird. Yet, weirder still … Continue reading
I’ve now lived in Kent longer than I’ve lived in any other place. On the one hand, that sounds crazy to me. On the other hand, I look at the family portrait from our first fall in Kent (see above), … Continue reading
My children are convinced that the world is going up in smoke. We try to regularly watch the national network news in the evenings, and they’ve been talking a lot lately about historic wildfires in California… and Oregon, and Greece, … Continue reading
We sing weird songs to children. And we do it without even thinking about it. In the process, though, I wonder how much we’re carrying culture without even knowing it. Old MacDonald had a farm: E-I-E-I-O What do those letters … Continue reading
I broke almost all of my regular vacation rules this month. Our two-and-a-half-week trip to the Pacific Northwest was lovely. But it seemed to be the antithesis to our typical vacation philosophy. We stayed busy! We covered a lot of … Continue reading
I was excited to experience the coffee culture of the Pacific Northwest. I figured it would be most-accessible in the cities. Like in Seattle, the birthplace of the Starbucks coffee empire (though I was more excited to try Starbucks’ competitors, … Continue reading
I’ve been thinking, praying, and processing some pandemic recovery stuff lately. And I feel like I had an epiphany this morning while walking in the woods. I started by praying for a nurse who’s recently been hospitalized for COVID-19. She … Continue reading