Singing Along the Journey

trees

Hints of resurrection…

I have to give credit to my friend Mitzi Budde for the phrase that has become the title. This was her observation and it stuck. I continue to be in awe of this plucky little former tree. This was what hope looked like on a Wednesday morning. Not the greatest picture, but if you look at the bright green shoots with the tinge of color, that's what I'm talking about. Three weeks before this morning late in August, a tree surgeon came and cut down our beloved 20+ year old crepe myrtle. It had split under the weight of snow during the winter and then picked up an infestation called…
Read More

Color and seeds and color…

More surprises from the hood. I have always thought this was a Japanese maple, a large one, but the little seed things look like oak. But they are not, it is indeed a Japanese maple (which I know thanks to Google image search). Notice the use of highly botanical language here (not). Anyway, I'm amazed at the color shading...I respond to color. And this definitely caught my eye...
Read More

The green season is upon us…

Yes. Here we are. It's Friday on Capitol Hill. And raining. And apparently it is also National Arbor Day. Funny, because as I was walking, I was thinking how we are moving into "the green season." Most of the flowering trees have given up their pinks and whites and reds and traded them for fresh bright green leaves. The changes get harder to see now, no more flashy bursts of color that your eye cannot escape. Now you really have to pay attention...everything is more subtle. So I ask, what draws your attention deeper today? Personally, I'm going to have to think about that... and I will just have to…
Read More

See the beauty where you can…

Well , hump day is feeling particularly humpish today, and most of the trees have made the transition from flowers to leaves, but this old Japanese weeping cherry is holding on...and looks like it has been holding on for many a year on that city corner. The bark is rough and the bows are gnarled and heavy. There is a split in the middle that shows the weight it carries and has carried and carried. And yet, the blooms are stunning on this grey and somber morning...so I say, see the beauty today where you can. That's what I'll work on today.
Read More

March 24 – 27, 2020: Seeing with no words

I haven't had anything to say for a few days, but that doesn't mean that my eyes aren't wide open. I just can't translated what I see into any kind of verbal expression. I am lucky in that our confinement begins in the middle of the blooming season in the neighborhood. So much beauty to be seen. And so, instead of words, I share all that I have seen as I venture not to far from my home f you want to take a look, too. March 24, 2020 March 25, 2020 March 27, 2020 March 26, 2020
Read More

March 20, 2020: Strike Up the Band

One of the great things about Capitol Hill is, well, we have our own cherry blossoms. Everywhere. So good morning from me and from my neighbor Mr. John Phillip Sousa...hang in there and notice the good things in your life if you can. #loveinthetimeofcovid #cherryblossoms #strikeuptheband Looking Back: June 14, 2021. I remember this day, vividly. Nothing was intentional in my act of taking a picture and posting it on social media, at least not in the beginning. Taking pictures was just my way of keeping myself moving...if I was looking at my surroundings, I would keep walking and I wouldn't give up on my exercise. Going to the gym was so ingrained…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

Trees and Taize

I'm into the third week of my program here at San Francisco Theological Seminary and I am thinking about many things...but most of all, trees and Taize.  Just indulge me, for a moment. As a traveler, I always do the best I can to experience the place I am visiting, so of course I have devoted any spare moment to exploration.  I spent hours in the beautiful Sonoma Valley and the Russian River Valley and last weekend I visited the Sonoma coast;  but what touches my imagination and my spirit most is, well, the trees. Redwoods, that is. The big trees.  I first visited Muir Woods 15 years ago and…
Read More

Hints of resurrection…

I have to give credit to my friend Mitzi Budde for the phrase that has become the title. This was her observation and it stuck. I continue to be in awe of this plucky little former tree. This was what hope looked like on a Wednesday morning. Not the greatest picture, but if you look at the bright green shoots with the tinge of color, that's what I'm talking about. Three weeks before this morning late in August, a tree surgeon came and cut down our beloved 20+ year old crepe myrtle. It had split under the weight of snow during the winter and then picked up an infestation called…
Read More

Color and seeds and color…

More surprises from the hood. I have always thought this was a Japanese maple, a large one, but the little seed things look like oak. But they are not, it is indeed a Japanese maple (which I know thanks to Google image search). Notice the use of highly botanical language here (not). Anyway, I'm amazed at the color shading...I respond to color. And this definitely caught my eye...
Read More

The green season is upon us…

Yes. Here we are. It's Friday on Capitol Hill. And raining. And apparently it is also National Arbor Day. Funny, because as I was walking, I was thinking how we are moving into "the green season." Most of the flowering trees have given up their pinks and whites and reds and traded them for fresh bright green leaves. The changes get harder to see now, no more flashy bursts of color that your eye cannot escape. Now you really have to pay attention...everything is more subtle. So I ask, what draws your attention deeper today? Personally, I'm going to have to think about that... and I will just have to…
Read More

See the beauty where you can…

Well , hump day is feeling particularly humpish today, and most of the trees have made the transition from flowers to leaves, but this old Japanese weeping cherry is holding on...and looks like it has been holding on for many a year on that city corner. The bark is rough and the bows are gnarled and heavy. There is a split in the middle that shows the weight it carries and has carried and carried. And yet, the blooms are stunning on this grey and somber morning...so I say, see the beauty today where you can. That's what I'll work on today.
Read More

March 24 – 27, 2020: Seeing with no words

I haven't had anything to say for a few days, but that doesn't mean that my eyes aren't wide open. I just can't translated what I see into any kind of verbal expression. I am lucky in that our confinement begins in the middle of the blooming season in the neighborhood. So much beauty to be seen. And so, instead of words, I share all that I have seen as I venture not to far from my home f you want to take a look, too. March 24, 2020 March 25, 2020 March 27, 2020 March 26, 2020
Read More

March 20, 2020: Strike Up the Band

One of the great things about Capitol Hill is, well, we have our own cherry blossoms. Everywhere. So good morning from me and from my neighbor Mr. John Phillip Sousa...hang in there and notice the good things in your life if you can. #loveinthetimeofcovid #cherryblossoms #strikeuptheband Looking Back: June 14, 2021. I remember this day, vividly. Nothing was intentional in my act of taking a picture and posting it on social media, at least not in the beginning. Taking pictures was just my way of keeping myself moving...if I was looking at my surroundings, I would keep walking and I wouldn't give up on my exercise. Going to the gym was so ingrained…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

Trees and Taize

I'm into the third week of my program here at San Francisco Theological Seminary and I am thinking about many things...but most of all, trees and Taize.  Just indulge me, for a moment. As a traveler, I always do the best I can to experience the place I am visiting, so of course I have devoted any spare moment to exploration.  I spent hours in the beautiful Sonoma Valley and the Russian River Valley and last weekend I visited the Sonoma coast;  but what touches my imagination and my spirit most is, well, the trees. Redwoods, that is. The big trees.  I first visited Muir Woods 15 years ago and…
Read More

Hints of resurrection…

I have to give credit to my friend Mitzi Budde for the phrase that has become the title. This was her observation and it stuck. I continue to be in awe of this plucky little former tree. This was what hope looked like on a Wednesday morning. Not the greatest picture, but if you look at the bright green shoots with the tinge of color, that's what I'm talking about. Three weeks before this morning late in August, a tree surgeon came and cut down our beloved 20+ year old crepe myrtle. It had split under the weight of snow during the winter and then picked up an infestation called…
Read More

Color and seeds and color…

More surprises from the hood. I have always thought this was a Japanese maple, a large one, but the little seed things look like oak. But they are not, it is indeed a Japanese maple (which I know thanks to Google image search). Notice the use of highly botanical language here (not). Anyway, I'm amazed at the color shading...I respond to color. And this definitely caught my eye...
Read More

The green season is upon us…

Yes. Here we are. It's Friday on Capitol Hill. And raining. And apparently it is also National Arbor Day. Funny, because as I was walking, I was thinking how we are moving into "the green season." Most of the flowering trees have given up their pinks and whites and reds and traded them for fresh bright green leaves. The changes get harder to see now, no more flashy bursts of color that your eye cannot escape. Now you really have to pay attention...everything is more subtle. So I ask, what draws your attention deeper today? Personally, I'm going to have to think about that... and I will just have to…
Read More

See the beauty where you can…

Well , hump day is feeling particularly humpish today, and most of the trees have made the transition from flowers to leaves, but this old Japanese weeping cherry is holding on...and looks like it has been holding on for many a year on that city corner. The bark is rough and the bows are gnarled and heavy. There is a split in the middle that shows the weight it carries and has carried and carried. And yet, the blooms are stunning on this grey and somber morning...so I say, see the beauty today where you can. That's what I'll work on today.
Read More

March 24 – 27, 2020: Seeing with no words

I haven't had anything to say for a few days, but that doesn't mean that my eyes aren't wide open. I just can't translated what I see into any kind of verbal expression. I am lucky in that our confinement begins in the middle of the blooming season in the neighborhood. So much beauty to be seen. And so, instead of words, I share all that I have seen as I venture not to far from my home f you want to take a look, too. March 24, 2020 March 25, 2020 March 27, 2020 March 26, 2020
Read More

March 20, 2020: Strike Up the Band

One of the great things about Capitol Hill is, well, we have our own cherry blossoms. Everywhere. So good morning from me and from my neighbor Mr. John Phillip Sousa...hang in there and notice the good things in your life if you can. #loveinthetimeofcovid #cherryblossoms #strikeuptheband Looking Back: June 14, 2021. I remember this day, vividly. Nothing was intentional in my act of taking a picture and posting it on social media, at least not in the beginning. Taking pictures was just my way of keeping myself moving...if I was looking at my surroundings, I would keep walking and I wouldn't give up on my exercise. Going to the gym was so ingrained…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

Trees and Taize

I'm into the third week of my program here at San Francisco Theological Seminary and I am thinking about many things...but most of all, trees and Taize.  Just indulge me, for a moment. As a traveler, I always do the best I can to experience the place I am visiting, so of course I have devoted any spare moment to exploration.  I spent hours in the beautiful Sonoma Valley and the Russian River Valley and last weekend I visited the Sonoma coast;  but what touches my imagination and my spirit most is, well, the trees. Redwoods, that is. The big trees.  I first visited Muir Woods 15 years ago and…
Read More

Hints of resurrection…

I have to give credit to my friend Mitzi Budde for the phrase that has become the title. This was her observation and it stuck. I continue to be in awe of this plucky little former tree. This was what hope looked like on a Wednesday morning. Not the greatest picture, but if you look at the bright green shoots with the tinge of color, that's what I'm talking about. Three weeks before this morning late in August, a tree surgeon came and cut down our beloved 20+ year old crepe myrtle. It had split under the weight of snow during the winter and then picked up an infestation called…
Read More

Color and seeds and color…

More surprises from the hood. I have always thought this was a Japanese maple, a large one, but the little seed things look like oak. But they are not, it is indeed a Japanese maple (which I know thanks to Google image search). Notice the use of highly botanical language here (not). Anyway, I'm amazed at the color shading...I respond to color. And this definitely caught my eye...
Read More

The green season is upon us…

Yes. Here we are. It's Friday on Capitol Hill. And raining. And apparently it is also National Arbor Day. Funny, because as I was walking, I was thinking how we are moving into "the green season." Most of the flowering trees have given up their pinks and whites and reds and traded them for fresh bright green leaves. The changes get harder to see now, no more flashy bursts of color that your eye cannot escape. Now you really have to pay attention...everything is more subtle. So I ask, what draws your attention deeper today? Personally, I'm going to have to think about that... and I will just have to…
Read More

See the beauty where you can…

Well , hump day is feeling particularly humpish today, and most of the trees have made the transition from flowers to leaves, but this old Japanese weeping cherry is holding on...and looks like it has been holding on for many a year on that city corner. The bark is rough and the bows are gnarled and heavy. There is a split in the middle that shows the weight it carries and has carried and carried. And yet, the blooms are stunning on this grey and somber morning...so I say, see the beauty today where you can. That's what I'll work on today.
Read More

March 24 – 27, 2020: Seeing with no words

I haven't had anything to say for a few days, but that doesn't mean that my eyes aren't wide open. I just can't translated what I see into any kind of verbal expression. I am lucky in that our confinement begins in the middle of the blooming season in the neighborhood. So much beauty to be seen. And so, instead of words, I share all that I have seen as I venture not to far from my home f you want to take a look, too. March 24, 2020 March 25, 2020 March 27, 2020 March 26, 2020
Read More

March 20, 2020: Strike Up the Band

One of the great things about Capitol Hill is, well, we have our own cherry blossoms. Everywhere. So good morning from me and from my neighbor Mr. John Phillip Sousa...hang in there and notice the good things in your life if you can. #loveinthetimeofcovid #cherryblossoms #strikeuptheband Looking Back: June 14, 2021. I remember this day, vividly. Nothing was intentional in my act of taking a picture and posting it on social media, at least not in the beginning. Taking pictures was just my way of keeping myself moving...if I was looking at my surroundings, I would keep walking and I wouldn't give up on my exercise. Going to the gym was so ingrained…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

Trees and Taize

I'm into the third week of my program here at San Francisco Theological Seminary and I am thinking about many things...but most of all, trees and Taize.  Just indulge me, for a moment. As a traveler, I always do the best I can to experience the place I am visiting, so of course I have devoted any spare moment to exploration.  I spent hours in the beautiful Sonoma Valley and the Russian River Valley and last weekend I visited the Sonoma coast;  but what touches my imagination and my spirit most is, well, the trees. Redwoods, that is. The big trees.  I first visited Muir Woods 15 years ago and…
Read More

Hints of resurrection…

I have to give credit to my friend Mitzi Budde for the phrase that has become the title. This was her observation and it stuck. I continue to be in awe of this plucky little former tree. This was what hope looked like on a Wednesday morning. Not the greatest picture, but if you look at the bright green shoots with the tinge of color, that's what I'm talking about. Three weeks before this morning late in August, a tree surgeon came and cut down our beloved 20+ year old crepe myrtle. It had split under the weight of snow during the winter and then picked up an infestation called…
Read More

Color and seeds and color…

More surprises from the hood. I have always thought this was a Japanese maple, a large one, but the little seed things look like oak. But they are not, it is indeed a Japanese maple (which I know thanks to Google image search). Notice the use of highly botanical language here (not). Anyway, I'm amazed at the color shading...I respond to color. And this definitely caught my eye...
Read More

The green season is upon us…

Yes. Here we are. It's Friday on Capitol Hill. And raining. And apparently it is also National Arbor Day. Funny, because as I was walking, I was thinking how we are moving into "the green season." Most of the flowering trees have given up their pinks and whites and reds and traded them for fresh bright green leaves. The changes get harder to see now, no more flashy bursts of color that your eye cannot escape. Now you really have to pay attention...everything is more subtle. So I ask, what draws your attention deeper today? Personally, I'm going to have to think about that... and I will just have to…
Read More

See the beauty where you can…

Well , hump day is feeling particularly humpish today, and most of the trees have made the transition from flowers to leaves, but this old Japanese weeping cherry is holding on...and looks like it has been holding on for many a year on that city corner. The bark is rough and the bows are gnarled and heavy. There is a split in the middle that shows the weight it carries and has carried and carried. And yet, the blooms are stunning on this grey and somber morning...so I say, see the beauty today where you can. That's what I'll work on today.
Read More

March 24 – 27, 2020: Seeing with no words

I haven't had anything to say for a few days, but that doesn't mean that my eyes aren't wide open. I just can't translated what I see into any kind of verbal expression. I am lucky in that our confinement begins in the middle of the blooming season in the neighborhood. So much beauty to be seen. And so, instead of words, I share all that I have seen as I venture not to far from my home f you want to take a look, too. March 24, 2020 March 25, 2020 March 27, 2020 March 26, 2020
Read More

March 20, 2020: Strike Up the Band

One of the great things about Capitol Hill is, well, we have our own cherry blossoms. Everywhere. So good morning from me and from my neighbor Mr. John Phillip Sousa...hang in there and notice the good things in your life if you can. #loveinthetimeofcovid #cherryblossoms #strikeuptheband Looking Back: June 14, 2021. I remember this day, vividly. Nothing was intentional in my act of taking a picture and posting it on social media, at least not in the beginning. Taking pictures was just my way of keeping myself moving...if I was looking at my surroundings, I would keep walking and I wouldn't give up on my exercise. Going to the gym was so ingrained…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

Trees and Taize

I'm into the third week of my program here at San Francisco Theological Seminary and I am thinking about many things...but most of all, trees and Taize.  Just indulge me, for a moment. As a traveler, I always do the best I can to experience the place I am visiting, so of course I have devoted any spare moment to exploration.  I spent hours in the beautiful Sonoma Valley and the Russian River Valley and last weekend I visited the Sonoma coast;  but what touches my imagination and my spirit most is, well, the trees. Redwoods, that is. The big trees.  I first visited Muir Woods 15 years ago and…
Read More

Hints of resurrection…

I have to give credit to my friend Mitzi Budde for the phrase that has become the title. This was her observation and it stuck. I continue to be in awe of this plucky little former tree. This was what hope looked like on a Wednesday morning. Not the greatest picture, but if you look at the bright green shoots with the tinge of color, that's what I'm talking about. Three weeks before this morning late in August, a tree surgeon came and cut down our beloved 20+ year old crepe myrtle. It had split under the weight of snow during the winter and then picked up an infestation called…
Read More

Color and seeds and color…

More surprises from the hood. I have always thought this was a Japanese maple, a large one, but the little seed things look like oak. But they are not, it is indeed a Japanese maple (which I know thanks to Google image search). Notice the use of highly botanical language here (not). Anyway, I'm amazed at the color shading...I respond to color. And this definitely caught my eye...
Read More

The green season is upon us…

Yes. Here we are. It's Friday on Capitol Hill. And raining. And apparently it is also National Arbor Day. Funny, because as I was walking, I was thinking how we are moving into "the green season." Most of the flowering trees have given up their pinks and whites and reds and traded them for fresh bright green leaves. The changes get harder to see now, no more flashy bursts of color that your eye cannot escape. Now you really have to pay attention...everything is more subtle. So I ask, what draws your attention deeper today? Personally, I'm going to have to think about that... and I will just have to…
Read More

See the beauty where you can…

Well , hump day is feeling particularly humpish today, and most of the trees have made the transition from flowers to leaves, but this old Japanese weeping cherry is holding on...and looks like it has been holding on for many a year on that city corner. The bark is rough and the bows are gnarled and heavy. There is a split in the middle that shows the weight it carries and has carried and carried. And yet, the blooms are stunning on this grey and somber morning...so I say, see the beauty today where you can. That's what I'll work on today.
Read More

March 24 – 27, 2020: Seeing with no words

I haven't had anything to say for a few days, but that doesn't mean that my eyes aren't wide open. I just can't translated what I see into any kind of verbal expression. I am lucky in that our confinement begins in the middle of the blooming season in the neighborhood. So much beauty to be seen. And so, instead of words, I share all that I have seen as I venture not to far from my home f you want to take a look, too. March 24, 2020 March 25, 2020 March 27, 2020 March 26, 2020
Read More

March 20, 2020: Strike Up the Band

One of the great things about Capitol Hill is, well, we have our own cherry blossoms. Everywhere. So good morning from me and from my neighbor Mr. John Phillip Sousa...hang in there and notice the good things in your life if you can. #loveinthetimeofcovid #cherryblossoms #strikeuptheband Looking Back: June 14, 2021. I remember this day, vividly. Nothing was intentional in my act of taking a picture and posting it on social media, at least not in the beginning. Taking pictures was just my way of keeping myself moving...if I was looking at my surroundings, I would keep walking and I wouldn't give up on my exercise. Going to the gym was so ingrained…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

Trees and Taize

I'm into the third week of my program here at San Francisco Theological Seminary and I am thinking about many things...but most of all, trees and Taize.  Just indulge me, for a moment. As a traveler, I always do the best I can to experience the place I am visiting, so of course I have devoted any spare moment to exploration.  I spent hours in the beautiful Sonoma Valley and the Russian River Valley and last weekend I visited the Sonoma coast;  but what touches my imagination and my spirit most is, well, the trees. Redwoods, that is. The big trees.  I first visited Muir Woods 15 years ago and…
Read More

Hints of resurrection…

I have to give credit to my friend Mitzi Budde for the phrase that has become the title. This was her observation and it stuck. I continue to be in awe of this plucky little former tree. This was what hope looked like on a Wednesday morning. Not the greatest picture, but if you look at the bright green shoots with the tinge of color, that's what I'm talking about. Three weeks before this morning late in August, a tree surgeon came and cut down our beloved 20+ year old crepe myrtle. It had split under the weight of snow during the winter and then picked up an infestation called…
Read More

Color and seeds and color…

More surprises from the hood. I have always thought this was a Japanese maple, a large one, but the little seed things look like oak. But they are not, it is indeed a Japanese maple (which I know thanks to Google image search). Notice the use of highly botanical language here (not). Anyway, I'm amazed at the color shading...I respond to color. And this definitely caught my eye...
Read More

The green season is upon us…

Yes. Here we are. It's Friday on Capitol Hill. And raining. And apparently it is also National Arbor Day. Funny, because as I was walking, I was thinking how we are moving into "the green season." Most of the flowering trees have given up their pinks and whites and reds and traded them for fresh bright green leaves. The changes get harder to see now, no more flashy bursts of color that your eye cannot escape. Now you really have to pay attention...everything is more subtle. So I ask, what draws your attention deeper today? Personally, I'm going to have to think about that... and I will just have to…
Read More

See the beauty where you can…

Well , hump day is feeling particularly humpish today, and most of the trees have made the transition from flowers to leaves, but this old Japanese weeping cherry is holding on...and looks like it has been holding on for many a year on that city corner. The bark is rough and the bows are gnarled and heavy. There is a split in the middle that shows the weight it carries and has carried and carried. And yet, the blooms are stunning on this grey and somber morning...so I say, see the beauty today where you can. That's what I'll work on today.
Read More

March 24 – 27, 2020: Seeing with no words

I haven't had anything to say for a few days, but that doesn't mean that my eyes aren't wide open. I just can't translated what I see into any kind of verbal expression. I am lucky in that our confinement begins in the middle of the blooming season in the neighborhood. So much beauty to be seen. And so, instead of words, I share all that I have seen as I venture not to far from my home f you want to take a look, too. March 24, 2020 March 25, 2020 March 27, 2020 March 26, 2020
Read More

March 20, 2020: Strike Up the Band

One of the great things about Capitol Hill is, well, we have our own cherry blossoms. Everywhere. So good morning from me and from my neighbor Mr. John Phillip Sousa...hang in there and notice the good things in your life if you can. #loveinthetimeofcovid #cherryblossoms #strikeuptheband Looking Back: June 14, 2021. I remember this day, vividly. Nothing was intentional in my act of taking a picture and posting it on social media, at least not in the beginning. Taking pictures was just my way of keeping myself moving...if I was looking at my surroundings, I would keep walking and I wouldn't give up on my exercise. Going to the gym was so ingrained…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

Trees and Taize

I'm into the third week of my program here at San Francisco Theological Seminary and I am thinking about many things...but most of all, trees and Taize.  Just indulge me, for a moment. As a traveler, I always do the best I can to experience the place I am visiting, so of course I have devoted any spare moment to exploration.  I spent hours in the beautiful Sonoma Valley and the Russian River Valley and last weekend I visited the Sonoma coast;  but what touches my imagination and my spirit most is, well, the trees. Redwoods, that is. The big trees.  I first visited Muir Woods 15 years ago and…
Read More

Hints of resurrection…

I have to give credit to my friend Mitzi Budde for the phrase that has become the title. This was her observation and it stuck. I continue to be in awe of this plucky little former tree. This was what hope looked like on a Wednesday morning. Not the greatest picture, but if you look at the bright green shoots with the tinge of color, that's what I'm talking about. Three weeks before this morning late in August, a tree surgeon came and cut down our beloved 20+ year old crepe myrtle. It had split under the weight of snow during the winter and then picked up an infestation called…
Read More

Color and seeds and color…

More surprises from the hood. I have always thought this was a Japanese maple, a large one, but the little seed things look like oak. But they are not, it is indeed a Japanese maple (which I know thanks to Google image search). Notice the use of highly botanical language here (not). Anyway, I'm amazed at the color shading...I respond to color. And this definitely caught my eye...
Read More

The green season is upon us…

Yes. Here we are. It's Friday on Capitol Hill. And raining. And apparently it is also National Arbor Day. Funny, because as I was walking, I was thinking how we are moving into "the green season." Most of the flowering trees have given up their pinks and whites and reds and traded them for fresh bright green leaves. The changes get harder to see now, no more flashy bursts of color that your eye cannot escape. Now you really have to pay attention...everything is more subtle. So I ask, what draws your attention deeper today? Personally, I'm going to have to think about that... and I will just have to…
Read More

See the beauty where you can…

Well , hump day is feeling particularly humpish today, and most of the trees have made the transition from flowers to leaves, but this old Japanese weeping cherry is holding on...and looks like it has been holding on for many a year on that city corner. The bark is rough and the bows are gnarled and heavy. There is a split in the middle that shows the weight it carries and has carried and carried. And yet, the blooms are stunning on this grey and somber morning...so I say, see the beauty today where you can. That's what I'll work on today.
Read More

March 24 – 27, 2020: Seeing with no words

I haven't had anything to say for a few days, but that doesn't mean that my eyes aren't wide open. I just can't translated what I see into any kind of verbal expression. I am lucky in that our confinement begins in the middle of the blooming season in the neighborhood. So much beauty to be seen. And so, instead of words, I share all that I have seen as I venture not to far from my home f you want to take a look, too. March 24, 2020 March 25, 2020 March 27, 2020 March 26, 2020
Read More

March 20, 2020: Strike Up the Band

One of the great things about Capitol Hill is, well, we have our own cherry blossoms. Everywhere. So good morning from me and from my neighbor Mr. John Phillip Sousa...hang in there and notice the good things in your life if you can. #loveinthetimeofcovid #cherryblossoms #strikeuptheband Looking Back: June 14, 2021. I remember this day, vividly. Nothing was intentional in my act of taking a picture and posting it on social media, at least not in the beginning. Taking pictures was just my way of keeping myself moving...if I was looking at my surroundings, I would keep walking and I wouldn't give up on my exercise. Going to the gym was so ingrained…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

Trees and Taize

I'm into the third week of my program here at San Francisco Theological Seminary and I am thinking about many things...but most of all, trees and Taize.  Just indulge me, for a moment. As a traveler, I always do the best I can to experience the place I am visiting, so of course I have devoted any spare moment to exploration.  I spent hours in the beautiful Sonoma Valley and the Russian River Valley and last weekend I visited the Sonoma coast;  but what touches my imagination and my spirit most is, well, the trees. Redwoods, that is. The big trees.  I first visited Muir Woods 15 years ago and…
Read More

Hints of resurrection…

I have to give credit to my friend Mitzi Budde for the phrase that has become the title. This was her observation and it stuck. I continue to be in awe of this plucky little former tree. This was what hope looked like on a Wednesday morning. Not the greatest picture, but if you look at the bright green shoots with the tinge of color, that's what I'm talking about. Three weeks before this morning late in August, a tree surgeon came and cut down our beloved 20+ year old crepe myrtle. It had split under the weight of snow during the winter and then picked up an infestation called…
Read More

Color and seeds and color…

More surprises from the hood. I have always thought this was a Japanese maple, a large one, but the little seed things look like oak. But they are not, it is indeed a Japanese maple (which I know thanks to Google image search). Notice the use of highly botanical language here (not). Anyway, I'm amazed at the color shading...I respond to color. And this definitely caught my eye...
Read More

The green season is upon us…

Yes. Here we are. It's Friday on Capitol Hill. And raining. And apparently it is also National Arbor Day. Funny, because as I was walking, I was thinking how we are moving into "the green season." Most of the flowering trees have given up their pinks and whites and reds and traded them for fresh bright green leaves. The changes get harder to see now, no more flashy bursts of color that your eye cannot escape. Now you really have to pay attention...everything is more subtle. So I ask, what draws your attention deeper today? Personally, I'm going to have to think about that... and I will just have to…
Read More

See the beauty where you can…

Well , hump day is feeling particularly humpish today, and most of the trees have made the transition from flowers to leaves, but this old Japanese weeping cherry is holding on...and looks like it has been holding on for many a year on that city corner. The bark is rough and the bows are gnarled and heavy. There is a split in the middle that shows the weight it carries and has carried and carried. And yet, the blooms are stunning on this grey and somber morning...so I say, see the beauty today where you can. That's what I'll work on today.
Read More

March 24 – 27, 2020: Seeing with no words

I haven't had anything to say for a few days, but that doesn't mean that my eyes aren't wide open. I just can't translated what I see into any kind of verbal expression. I am lucky in that our confinement begins in the middle of the blooming season in the neighborhood. So much beauty to be seen. And so, instead of words, I share all that I have seen as I venture not to far from my home f you want to take a look, too. March 24, 2020 March 25, 2020 March 27, 2020 March 26, 2020
Read More

March 20, 2020: Strike Up the Band

One of the great things about Capitol Hill is, well, we have our own cherry blossoms. Everywhere. So good morning from me and from my neighbor Mr. John Phillip Sousa...hang in there and notice the good things in your life if you can. #loveinthetimeofcovid #cherryblossoms #strikeuptheband Looking Back: June 14, 2021. I remember this day, vividly. Nothing was intentional in my act of taking a picture and posting it on social media, at least not in the beginning. Taking pictures was just my way of keeping myself moving...if I was looking at my surroundings, I would keep walking and I wouldn't give up on my exercise. Going to the gym was so ingrained…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

Trees and Taize

I'm into the third week of my program here at San Francisco Theological Seminary and I am thinking about many things...but most of all, trees and Taize.  Just indulge me, for a moment. As a traveler, I always do the best I can to experience the place I am visiting, so of course I have devoted any spare moment to exploration.  I spent hours in the beautiful Sonoma Valley and the Russian River Valley and last weekend I visited the Sonoma coast;  but what touches my imagination and my spirit most is, well, the trees. Redwoods, that is. The big trees.  I first visited Muir Woods 15 years ago and…
Read More