The corrupt and powerful used to bury their crimes with silence. Now they do it with noise. ~Sarah Kendzior, They Knew Crime committed brazenly is over time redefined as something other than crime. It is entertainment, and then it is autocracy, and then it is too late." ~Sarah Kendzior, Hiding In Plain Sight Well, here … Continue reading Democracy’s Court Date
“What do you say? Because only in America can you survive a mass shooting and go and make a friend who is the victim of a mass shooting and then go to meet that friend for lunch … and end up in the middle of another mass shooting event.” Ashbey Beasley It's another fairly typical … Continue reading Another Monday in March: Take the Moments, Take the Opportunities
“Some people say that what I did changed the world. But really, I simply refused to accept what I was told about who I could be. And I was willing to make a fuss about it.” Judy Heumann Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist. If I have to feel thankful about an … Continue reading Judy Heumann: Willing to Make a Fuss
About 20 years ago, they decided to do something. The land was dead. Brown, used up, dusty and gray. But it once had been a forest. Not so very long ago, it was lush and green and home to lots of animals and birds. It had been magnificent, once. Sebastiao knew, because the land had … Continue reading Today someone’s sitting in the shade…because someone else planted a tree.
If you have ever watched a spider in the process of weaving, it's a masterclass in design and art. It's the constant making of decisions, alterations. It's cutting off pathways, reinforcing others, creating new ones. It's both creative and destructive. I was thinking of that this week when my husband and I wondered aloud how … Continue reading One Day I Met a Friend at the Lake and Changed My Whole Life
On a recent "walk-and-talk" with my son (who like many 10-year-old boys opens up more when we're engaged in some kind of activity) he described a game he'd created in his head. In it, people were here, but not really here – their physical bodies were on earth but their higher selves were transported to … Continue reading What if We Celebrated the Repair, Rather than Mourned the Break?
Yesterday was Presidents' Day. It's become a bit of tradition for my son and I to spend the month or two leading up to Presidents' Day reading about one president each day. It's a fascinating trip through American history for me, and hopefully, for him. I'm always struck by the stories of these people. Some … Continue reading A President A Day for Presidents’ Day
You could bury your head in the sand, or you could roll up your sleeves. ~Father Greg Boyle, founder, Homeboy Industries You know, I may not be able to carry what you're carrying, but we can carry you. ~Father Greg Boyle, founder, Homeboy Industries Greg Boyle, a newly-minted Jesuit priest, arrived in Boyle Heights in … Continue reading Roll Up Your Sleeves, and Give Hope
I think I like wildflowers best. They just grow wherever they want. No one has to plant them. And then their seeds blow in the wind and they find a new place to grow. ~Rebecca Donovan Wildflowers are the loveliest of all because they grow in uncultivated soil, in those hard, rugged places where no … Continue reading My Weedy Wild Flowers
The first time I saw the old tree, I felt sorry for it. Obviously once a hulking, massive specimen, now it's buckled and broken and bowed to the ground. If you can imagine a tree with a trunk so wide that it would take two (or more) people with arms outstretched to reach all the … Continue reading My Favorite Tree, and How It Reminds Me Of You
Small Deeds Done 