Welcome to the Retirement Labyrinth — Oh, for the good ol’ days. My grandmother lived in a house down the hill from my aunt and every morning she raised her blind and every evening she turned off the light in her living room. “Those were our signals,” my aunt told me. …

What’s in Your Heavens? —

I awakened to my sexual vulnerability as a woman — I awoke abruptly in the middle of the night. Something was poking my upper leg. Foggy from sleep, I tried to figure out what was happening. It was hot — one of those muggy nights in Southern Illinois in the late 1960s in a house without air conditioning. Who had…

I have watched you dancing with these trees Their fall leaves swaying back and forth. The breezes twirl them east, then west. You are in…

How the Strength of their Convictions Can blind Well-Meaning People — Sarah smells the richly spiced aroma of marinara sauce wafting from Zeno’s Italian kitchen. Her appetite disappears when she sees her friend Lila’s pale face and wobbly body walking toward her. Rushing to steady her, she asks, “Lila, what’s wrong?” “I got dizzy driving here. Yes, something’s wrong.” Sarah knows…

It helps explain the deep satisfaction we get from meaningful dialogues — Ahh … the term intertwined (verb: to link or twist together). One can draw from weaving for examples of overlapping threads, one on top of — or next to — the other. As a metaphor for ideas in dialogue, intertwined is evocative, as one thread alone never creates shared meanings…

Human kindness? Overflowing? I think it’s going to rain today. — In writing about the first three televised hearings https://medium.com/illumination/the-january-6th-senate-hearings-46a05a842f71, I found myself filled with hope. It arose from the thoughtful nature of the public discourse we could all witness together. I was eager, then, to watch yesterday’s “surprise” hearing as commentators widely proclaimed it would be explosive. And it was…

I am riveted and optimistic — I find myself caught off guard by the January 6th hearings. After watching the first hearing, something loosened in me and after the third, something rose up. I think it is hope. I hadn’t planned on watching, but remembered being glued to the television during the Watergate hearings, so I…

After so many years — The lush bright pink blossoms Cheered the gloomy wet spring day. On a whim, she snuggled one of the pots Into her grocery cart, between the carrot and potato sacks. At home, he said, startled, “You bought a flower for planting. Hopeful, you are.” “Yes,” she said. “I’ll go and find a…