It's not exactly the day to go ice skating. I hike my skate bag higher on my shoulder and badge out of the door at work. Sunshine overwhelms all my senses, golden blindness. It takes a moment to blink it away. Spring is in the air, even in February. It's nice to go to the … Continue reading Discovering My Weaknesses
Non-Fiction
A Penny for a Tale
I'm going to write about an old coin. Specifically one side of it. It's an exercise I read about in a book. The idea that you could get a couple hundred words down about one side of a coin intrigued me. How do you do it? And how do you make it enjoyable? I walk … Continue reading A Penny for a Tale
As Summer Fades
I walk up toward my back hedge, carrying a bowl of split and rotten apples. The last few, I didn't manage to eat. I toss them among the feet of the trees. They'll make a perfect snack for some foraging critters. I straighten. The wind picks up, waving its invisible fingers through the leaves. A … Continue reading As Summer Fades
Say No to the Barbarian Horde
I come to you this week asking a genuinely curious question. Should churches update the old hymns' language--- when they sing them at all? It's a thought that's been lurking in the back of my mind for some time. It resurrected last week while I listened to a podcast interview between Jordan Peterson and Douglas … Continue reading Say No to the Barbarian Horde
Power Play
Competition teaches you things about yourself. Super competitive v. quitter? How to win. How to lose. Honest v. Cheater? Every spring, my workplace does a walk/run challenge. The rules are simple, and there are many rewards to be given out. Hit a specific weekly mileage--- bam! You're entered into a drawing. But of course, there … Continue reading Power Play
The Problem with Profanity
I struggle sometimes, as a writer and as a Christian, with profanity. I've always taken the stance that I will use profanity in my writing when it feels applicable to a character or the narrative. However, it comes time to publish and share something, and I begin to feel self-conscious about my Christian friends reading … Continue reading The Problem with Profanity
Smokey Memory
I was struck by something when I walked out of work on Tuesday to drive home for lunch. My coworkers and I spent the morning observing the pall of wildfire smoke descend upon us. A sheet of white slowly swallowed the spine of the hills rimming our valley. We could not tell where the sky … Continue reading Smokey Memory
History-Blind
The river gathers the PA announcer's voice and propels it across town toward me. The sound collects, echoing, beneath the empty metal canopy over the ice rink. For a moment, the voice bounces around the vacant concrete as if a phantom hockey game is being played. "Corning goal number blah-blah. Tanner Somebody." I chuckle to … Continue reading History-Blind
Unraveling Time
The line of people loops from the casket through the viewing room, past the front door, and through the second viewing room, where it angles and turns back on itself again in a narrow hallway. Outside, the wind skirls in the lavender twilight and slings the newly budded branches of a flowering tree back and … Continue reading Unraveling Time
The Difference
I walked up the hill through the rain. An ordinary walk on an ordinary day. My legs felt strong. The air was crisp in my lungs. Suddenly, I looked up and saw the raindrops dripping off dark tree limbs. I saw the watercolor gauze of the treetrunks against the white hillside. And I realized--- I'll … Continue reading The Difference
Seeking Prose 