just enough light

Today concludes my visit to the cottage in Kittery, Maine, and it brings an end to 22 annual visit by the Powell brothers. We decided via email earlier this year that it was our last visit to the cottage that was part of our childhood and now a significant part of our adult lives. The […]

This is the road to the cottage. A small numbered sign on Old Denntt Road, visible only to those looking for it, is all that gives it away. You have to be looking for the tire ruts that simply appear between two trees, and then, by faith, you drive into the woods. This was the […]

Oh the ways I find to distract myself. Here I am at the cottage in Maine with no electricity and, consequently, fewer distractions. It was dark by 7:30 last night. At 8:00 I turned off my laptop to conserve power for the morning. Then what? No TV to watch episodes of something I don’t really […]

I recently attended the 50th anniversary reunion for the Olney High School class of 1967. I went with great apprehension. Some of it was the normal apprehension of being with people you haven’t seen for decades, wondering if you will have anything in common other than some ancient history. But then I had my own […]

Many of you have heard me talk about the cottage in Maine where I spend a long weekend with my brothers each fall. Well, for the past three years I have been going to the cottage ahead of the scheduled time to spend a few restful days on my own. I am there now and […]

Report from the cottage in Maine: Until three years ago, I resisted spending time at the cottage alone for one reason. When the sun goes down, it’s dark. And it’s remote. And being in a place like this kicks in all my old childhood fears of the dark. I have kerosene lanterns and battery-operated flashlights […]

Out of the chaos will come clarity. At least that is my hope. Amidst the incendiary rhetoric, ongoing investigations, incessant legal and ethical crises, accusations, lying, and blaming for all that’s not working, the chaos of Donald Trump’s administration may provide some important clarification for us as a nation. The Donald will not be the […]

Many years ago I was driving an old bus with a friend. He had gutted a 40 year-old highway bus, wired it with sophisticated recording equipment, and turned it into a mobile recording studio. I was a roadie for him and was driving on our way to a recording job. This was one of those […]

One of my favorite authors, Richard Rohr, writes in one of his books, “We only see what we are looking for, we only hear what we are listening for.” He is referring to our tendency to get so locked into our own perspective, so accustomed to our own way of thinking, our so focused on […]

I hate to wait. I hate waiting in line at the grocery store, especially when the person at the front of the line is counting out nickels and pennies or arguing over a 15 cent coupon. I hate waiting at an intersection when the person in front is waiting for traffic to clear in all […]