Big Head
Ever get caught in the comparison trap? So we’re out in the south forty digging holes and planting poles, fencing new horse pasture. All the equipment’s there—tractor with drill, hand-held hole digger, level, and tape measure. We’re plugging along when suddenly Nick deviates from the task at hand. He picks up the tape measure […]
Light for the Moment
Sometimes our days are so gray. I know the sun is somewhere beyond, but all I see is gray. Sometimes life isn’t even that bright—that black and white mix we call gray. Sometimes it’s just plain dark. Like the morning I woke and looked east. For but a moment I saw the light. And then […]
Cornered
He drove out our tractor to set corner posts on what will be new horse pasture come spring. Drilling down into clay ground, we dropped poles deep. Tension on wire will pull and stress. Without strong corners—without posts sunk deep, fence will collapse. So we dug deep and we set. And as we […]
War and Peace
It’s 1:30 AM and the sound of advancing enemy fire has awakened me. After many retreats and battles lost in this ongoing war, I have learned the enemy’s tactics well. This time, there will be no retreat. This time, the victory is mine. I have suffered too many wounds, too many losses. No more. This […]
Unexpected
How we love the expected, the knowns. Like charting a trip, we set life course and follow our route, hoping for no detours, delays, or stops. But real life isn’t like that. When the unexpected strikes like lightening in places heart-close, comfortable can turn anxious as we find ourselves on quaking ground. And quaking ground […]
Chewed Up
He stomped onto the back deck mad. “I lost my pager!” Our nineteen-year-old volunteer fireman often loses things, often forgets to take things out of his pockets before starting the washer. In the past couple years, he has gone through four cell phones and three IPods. Now this. I could tell he was thoroughly frustrated […]
True Vine
I just came in from breakfast on our Tuscan terrace, a special spot I designed and had built following an inspirational trip to Florence five years ago. The Tuscany region of Italy is scattered with lush vineyards. Wanting to recreate the charm of the Florentine countryside, I purchased and planted five young grapevines. As instructed, […]
Star
Apples are September’s stars. Harvest has begun. Our orchard, not yet mature enough to bear fruit, still grows strong. Newtown Pippins, planted by Jefferson at Monticello, neighbor Northern Spys, Cortlands, and Winesaps. We planted each by hand—staking, watering, wrapping, snow fencing. Now we watch and wait. This September, a local orchard fills our apple baskets […]
In Step
We teach respect and good manners to our kids and our animals. Disrespectful kids often turn into disrespectful adults. Disrespectful horses turn into dangerous horses. With horses, respect and manners are essential because they weigh about 1,000 pounds and I weigh—well, considerably less. If horses get pushy, people get hurt. Since safety is always first […]
Broken
Cleaning up after dinner, I carefully hand wash my favorite platter in Ivory suds. Years ago, I found this creamy, ceramic oval embossed with fruits and vines. This platter has been on every Christmas buffet in our home for more years than I can remember. After the final rinse, I place the platter on end, […]
BLT Lettuce
Dinner tonight will mark the end of our three-nights-in-a-row BLT run. Fortunately, our family loves them. I’m using this common sandwich as an object lesson. Call it our nightly devotion. First, they learned that wife and mother is a slab of bacon. Next, they learned I am a tomato. Tonight, it’s lettuce. I think they’re […]
BLT Tomato
There is so much to learn from BLT sandwiches that I have to break apart the ingredients and discuss each one separately. Yesterday, I was bacon. Today, I am tomato. Now that I see how God uses heat to remove fat in the fry pan of life, I can move on to the knife. One […]