HERE AT THE CHURCH O THE PINES it is a gray, January day. Some might say gloomy. A layer of winter fog hangs over the frozen Church moat (Mississippi River) and the skies are leaden. But there is no hint of gloom among our congregation. The Blue Jay clan are in fine fettle (whatever a fettle actually is) and as
I ATTENDED a funeral yesterday. And in saying goodbye to David—a good, kind, and gentle man, who always elevated those around him—I thought again of how our lives are so much more than we know. Of how all things are more than we know—intertwined with one another, hinting at depths we seldom explore or understand. But sometimes, perhaps in the
HERE AT THE CHURCH O THE PINES, the congregation arrives, surrounded by beauties. And, of course, contributing to them. It is a good way to live. And, for our humble members, it does not seem to require extra effort—to live a good and purposeful life—just the normal exertion of being who they are. Winter is often difficult and calls for
AT THE CHURCH O THE PINES on this New Year’s Sunday morn, the congregation is well dressed and well behaved. Mostly. The Gray Squirrels throw their stoles carelessly over their shoulders and squall from the church rafters. The Blue Jay clan, having ridden down from the hills in the back of a ’51 half-ton Chevy, whack away on banjos and
AT THE OLD CARETAKERS’ CABIN at the Church O The Pines, the Old Year fittingly bows out with a coating of hoar frost. Time for new days, new dreams, a New Year. But the frost reminds us, there is beauty in all things—old and new, up and down, all around. And a young adopted cat named Koda, child of the
APPROXIMATELY 2022 YEARS AGO… an infant was born (skeptics who doubt that he ever really existed advance a weak case, with more faith in skepticism itself than in evidence) likely in a cave-like space under a simple stone dwelling. He was born to an unwed, teen-aged mother, delivered into poverty in a troubled corner of the world. About 33 years
THE RIVERSIDE FOREST at the Church O The Pines is cold, with more arctic blasts coming. Our small feathered friends gather hungrily round the feeders, and we make sure extra fare is put out. But in Orchid Corner of the writing office, tropical colors brighten the day. Happy Solstice!
AT THE CHURCH O THE PINES, morning brings a world transformed, as winter lays its snowy hand upon the forest. Everywhere is a scene of beauty and wonder. And under a frosted balsam fir ‘cave,’ a little adopted kitten named Koda—a true outdoorsman—follows picture-taking Dad and absorbs it all.
AT THE CHURCH O THE PINES the trees shiver in the wind off the river, which is now iced in. The wind chimes play their symphony. The birds and squirrels are well-fluffed. And Koda—our inveterate outdoorsman adopted as a kitten-of-the-woods last March; and his older brother, Simon, inveterate indoorsman, while away their time catnapping. Indoors. Even Koda only goes out