An Inevitable Implication
My family and I spent the first day of the new year visiting Dennis’s parents in New Hampshire. I guess it’s nice to get away from home once in a while, but no more than that. I’ve become too much…
Roughly Recognized
According to Gary Saul Morson in Hidden in Plain View, “In the early reviews of War and Peace, objections were raised most frequently against the plot. ‘This disordered heap of accumulated material,’ as one reviewer called it, was perceived as…
Be Still
A fifteenth-century poet named Hatton Ransetsu wrote a lovely haiku that I discovered quite by accident, but it speaks to me: Pine tree silhouettePainted by the harvest moonOn a shining sky I have photographed such silhouettes on more than one…
An Unfinished Film and Missing Pieces
Oh, what a world. These are interesting times, and I spend much of my day watching the movie that is playing on the screen. How will it end? I think I know, but we have not gotten to the climax,…
The Words I Choose
Freedom, love, duty, faith: these words have taken up residence in my mind, and they don’t seem likely to hightail it out of town any time soon. Safety, on the other hand, is a word absolutely not welcome in my…
Steps in the Right Direction
A wind is blowing outside my studio. I like the sound and love to see the occasional leaf slowly drift through the chill air to the ground. Stella and Henry often race around the yard at this time of year,…
Who Wanted It First?
Yesterday, I tried to put my finger on what separates me from so many people I encounter. I tossed around one notion after another, but none felt quite right until I hit upon the word “quest.” Yet even that misses…
Sifting and Sorting the Pretty and the Beautiful
I have got to get some semblance of a writing routine wedged into my days. So, here I sit, with headphones plugged into some of the classical music offerings from Halidon on Youtube. Luke shares my studio. At the moment,…
My Own Thing
How often do I change my mind, my outlook, my convictions? Yes, my convictions. If I don’t blindly hold onto a belief my entire life, it doesn’t mean that I am a moral relativist, and if I don’t keep up…
Is It a Good Expression?
That question—the title of this post—was asked in an instructional video presented by a successful photographer. He was going through a list he uses to evaluate images: the making of them, along with the finished product. It’s an interesting query…
To and Fro
Writing used to be an important part of my day. What role does it play in my life now? What kind of influence do I want it to have? The more time I spend reading, the more fodder I gain…
Onward and Around
It feels like summer is waning. The excruciatingly hot days that felt like they would never end are behind us. Every once in a while, I glimpse a red leaf on another tree, and the down comforter will soon be…
