Growth is green, like leaves and stems Growth is brown, like roots and limbs Growth is pink, like dawn and dusk Growth is orange, like brand new rust Growth is purple, like irises in spring Growth is ivory, like the moon’s hazy ring Growth is blue, like the swirling, whirling sea Growth is tangerine, like…

Today is World’s AIDS Day, which was established in 1988 to lend support to people who are living with HIV and to commemorate those who have died. The 2021 theme, “Ending the HIV Epidemic: Equitable Access, Everyone’s Voice,” underscores the fact that many marginalized people in the United States and around the world continue not…

Today is the birthday of my beloved nephew, Jim Agutter, my sister Leslie’s son. Jim is one of my favorite people in the world and, because I’ve known him since I was fifteen (when I was changing his diapers as a newborn), he is also one of my longstanding buddies. Luckily, he and my husband…

Ten years ago, my sister-in-law Sandra Adams Leatherwood died on this day.  Here are the words I spoke at her funeral. These seem fitting for today. *** My name is Len Leatherwood and I am Sandra’s sister-in-law. My nieces requested I say a few words about their mother today. Sandra had a quality that is…

Here is a photo of our more traditional Thanksgiving celebration on the actual day of Thanksgiving (Our orange grove celebration is always on the Friday after TG). We were invited to join Liz’s husband Ron’s family (the Bettys) at their lovely home for wonderful food and camaraderie. In this photo below are Ron’s parents, Ron’s…

The teakettle bubbled on the stove, sending up a stream of white mist into the air of the monastery kitchen. Brother Tobias yawned as he reached over to turn off the gas burner. The chanting voices of his Benedictine brothers wafted in through the open window from the nearby chapel where they were gathered for…

On the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated, I was ten years old and a student at Bailey Inglish Elementary School in Bonham, Texas, northeast of Dallas. I can’t remember how we were told the news, whether over the loudspeaker or by our teacher, but once we learned what had happened just 70 miles away,…

I am moving into a new phase in my life. It’s called the, “Oh, does it really matter?” phase, which is very far from where I have lived up until Covid when I zipped around in a mindset of “Okay, let’s do this!” This previous approach to life was accompanied by an impressive amount of…

We went tonight with our friend and priest Ian Elliott Davies to hear the Master Chorale perform Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil. It is 75 minutes long without an intermission. Everyone had to show their vaccination card and their photo ID. We all had to wear masks as well the entire time we were in Disney. Just…