Category: Reflections
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What We Nurture in Art and Life Makes All the Difference
“I think of myself as a sort of farmer; I tend the rich soil of troubled children and nurture them as they grow, “ a social worker once said to me when I told her about my dreams of being a writer/farmer. At the time I had no idea that I would write novels about…
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A Civil War Envelope
First time I wore a corset I became a woman. Before that I was a person not at home for trying to be too many different things to too many people. I had felt responsible for the world’s destruction since I was five and put before the TV to watch crying Indians and baby seals…
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Flowers in the Window
Bring in those flowers and put them on the windowsill where you wash the dishes. You pass them every day, but you’re so busy and there will be new blooms tomorrow. My mother once said she felt sorry for flowers picked and put in a vase and didn’t need them. She said this because she…
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The Moon
Who are you in the dark when no one is looking? What is the magic moonlight of you that you keep covered in clouds of blue? Those dark places when shared make you more like the rest of us. Sometimes those flaws are the very things that lead you on your mission. Sometimes those flaws…
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A Stolen Tombstone
Why would a person steal from a cemetery? At my favorite family resting spot in the middle of nowhere someone stole the headstone of a Civil War soldier who died of disease before seeing battle. It was early in the war, so his body was sent home. A couple in Florida found the headstone in…
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Pray for the Dead?
Do you think it’s morbid to pray for the dead? Do you think they can pray for us? I accept that I may have an active imagination and we can’t know for sure if visiting cemeteries brings us closer to our loved ones, but I feel it can. I visited one of my Civil War…
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“Here Lies One Whose Name Was Writ in Water” John Keats
Tall and handsome I didn’t love him for his poetry. I didn’t love him at all in a romantic way though he had a habit of sending love letters to everyone he thought beautiful. He’d sent one to me just after a bike ride along the glittering reservoir. We were friends because we’d known each…
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A Writer’s Calling
You should not expect a return on your love. The idea that you deserve anything in life leads to disappointment. How many times must we suffer disappointment before we make peace with the idea that it’s a sorry part of life? It’s our lot. We expect so much from others and fine things from ourselves…
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Memories: Friends and Boundaries
Summer, barefoot. Just after dawn I listen to the whiz-snap of the screen door closing behind me to take in the fresh new day, the first day in our new yard. Full and thick viburnum and arborvitae bushes crowd the boundaries of the suburban lot and a pear tree with tiny fruit stands in the…
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Where Does Wisdom Come From?
Numerous and wonderful things have been given to us through the Law, the Prophets, and the other writings that followed them. For this reason, it is necessary to praise Israel for education and wisdom. It is also necessary not only for those who read them to gain understanding but also for those who love learning…
Author Adrienne Morris 