A simple place for essays, experiments, and useful ideas.
Notes and essays, organized by date.
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656 published posts across 11 pages.
January 14, 2024
The shoes were by the door before I felt like walking. That is usually how health works for me. The useful thing has to be started before the mood agrees to it. Sleep, food, walking, lifting, water, less noise. None of…
January 11, 2024
Isaiah 40 showed up again today, this time with a grocery receipt curling near the sink in view. No big lesson. I just noticed that the line had more patience than I did.
January 2, 2024
The knot held. The cast did not. That is still a better morning than one spent pretending patience is easy.
December 29, 2023
The afternoon started with an old pen on the kitchen table and no great feeling of readiness. I said the short prayer anyway. Not because the room changed, and not because I suddenly understood what to do next. Prayer i…
December 12, 2023
Passed through Roselle and caught one small thing: a sign, a doorway, somebody carrying coffee too carefully. That was the whole note. Some towns are mostly made of things you only see while stopped at a light.
December 8, 2023
The table in Roselle Park had a paper napkin under one leg and coffee that had been sitting too long. That is not a complaint. Some meals are remembered because the room makes room for a tired person. Neighborhood food…
December 8, 2023
The morning started with a church bulletin folded in half and no great feeling of readiness. I said the short prayer anyway. Not because the room changed, and not because I suddenly understood what to do next. Prayer is…
December 5, 2023
The old counter had better manners than most new rooms. It let people sit without asking what the sitting was for.
December 2, 2023
Stopped near Echo Lake long enough to check the water and make one bad cast. No fish. No tragedy. The wind had better timing than I did.
December 1, 2023
The shoes were by the door before I felt like walking. That is usually how health works for me. The useful thing has to be started before the mood agrees to it. Sleep, food, walking, lifting, water, less noise. None of…
December 1, 2023
A folded napkin sat next to the open page, and Proverbs 3 did not need much decoration. I read it slowly because I have a bad habit of making familiar words too easy. A verse can become furniture if a person only walks…
November 29, 2023
I walked a little through Union with gray light moving across the street. The older blocks had that New Jersey mix of pride and wear. A good front step, a tired sign, a small business opening its door. Nothing dramatic…
November 27, 2023
The old war notes I was reading made me think less about speeches and more about boots, mud, and mail. World War I becomes too large to hold if it stays only on maps. The smaller details bring it back down to human size…
November 26, 2023
The knot held. The cast did not. That is still a better morning than one spent pretending patience is easy.
November 12, 2023
The old war notes I was reading made me think less about speeches and more about boots, mud, and mail. World War I becomes too large to hold if it stays only on maps. The smaller details bring it back down to human size…
November 2, 2023
The counter had a sugar packet stuck to it and a stool that turned a little too easily. Old diners and neighborhood bars were not perfect rooms. They were public rooms, which is different and maybe more useful. A person…
October 29, 2023
The thing that stayed with me was not a headline but a kitchen detail: rationing, blackout cloth, a careful hand with what was left. World War II can become too clean in memory if it is only told through victories. The…
October 14, 2023
Passed through Winfield Park and caught one small thing: a sign, a doorway, somebody carrying coffee too carefully. That was the whole note. Some towns are mostly made of things you only see while stopped at a light.
October 7, 2023
The evening started with an old pen on the kitchen table and no great feeling of readiness. I said the short prayer anyway. Not because the room changed, and not because I suddenly understood what to do next. Prayer is…
October 7, 2023
Luke 15 was the page I opened to, and I almost closed it too quickly. Some days a familiar line only needs a second chance.
October 5, 2023
The line went out badly near Nomahegan Park, and there was no way to pretend otherwise. Fishing has a way of making impatience visible. The water does not care how clean the cast looked in a person's head. I watched the…
September 30, 2023
The shoes were by the door before I felt like walking. That is usually how health works for me. The useful thing has to be started before the mood agrees to it. Sleep, food, walking, lifting, water, less noise. None of…
September 22, 2023
The old war notes I was reading made me think less about speeches and more about boots, mud, and mail. World War I becomes too large to hold if it stays only on maps. The smaller details bring it back down to human size…
September 19, 2023
The thing that stayed with me was not a headline but a kitchen detail: rationing, blackout cloth, a careful hand with what was left. World War II can become too clean in memory if it is only told through victories. The…
September 18, 2023
The page of Byron was sitting beside a library receipt, which was probably the right amount of drama for the room. Byron is easy to admire for the wrong reasons. The speed, the pose, the beautiful wound, the refusal to…
September 7, 2023
The evening started with a folded napkin by the plate and no great feeling of readiness. I said the short prayer anyway. Not because the room changed, and not because I suddenly understood what to do next. Prayer is oft…
September 2, 2023
Read a little Robert Frost and meant to read more, but the day got away from me. One line was enough. Sometimes that is all the room can hold.
September 1, 2023
A library receipt sat next to the open page, and Luke 15 did not need much decoration. I read it slowly because I have a bad habit of making familiar words too easy. A verse can become furniture if a person only walks p…
August 30, 2023
An old pen on the kitchen table was enough to slow the evening down for a minute. Most days do not announce what they are going to mean. They leave small evidence and let a person decide whether to notice. I am trying t…
August 26, 2023
Saw a crow near the road and almost missed it. It was there, then it was gone. The street felt a little less ordinary for about five seconds.
August 15, 2023
An old pen sat next to the open page, and Romans 8 did not need much decoration. I read it slowly because I have a bad habit of making familiar words too easy. A verse can become furniture if a person only walks past it…
August 14, 2023
A library receipt sat next to the open page, and Proverbs 3 did not need much decoration. I read it slowly because I have a bad habit of making familiar words too easy. A verse can become furniture if a person only walk…
August 13, 2023
The table in Garwood had a paper napkin under one leg and coffee that had been sitting too long. That is not a complaint. Some meals are remembered because the room makes room for a tired person. Neighborhood food is ne…
August 12, 2023
Proverbs 3 showed up again today, this time with an old pen on the kitchen table in view. No big lesson. I just noticed that the line had more patience than I did.
August 5, 2023
I had Christina Rossetti open with a library receipt nearby and the room getting a little darker. The poem did not explain itself all at once. The better lines rarely do. They stay put while the reader shifts around in…
July 28, 2023
Stopped near Warinanco Park long enough to check the water and make one bad cast. No fish. No tragedy. The wind had better timing than I did.
July 27, 2023
Saw a catbird near the road and almost missed it. It was there, then it was gone. The street felt a little less ordinary for about five seconds.
July 19, 2023
There was a time when late coffee felt like a normal bad idea. Now even bad ideas seem to need nicer lighting.
July 18, 2023
The old war notes I was reading made me think less about speeches and more about boots, mud, and mail. World War I becomes too large to hold if it stays only on maps. The smaller details bring it back down to human size…
July 17, 2023
The morning started with a grocery receipt curling near the sink and no great feeling of readiness. I said the short prayer anyway. Not because the room changed, and not because I suddenly understood what to do next. Pr…
June 30, 2023
The evening started with an old pen on the kitchen table and no great feeling of readiness. I said the short prayer anyway. Not because the room changed, and not because I suddenly understood what to do next. Prayer is…
June 30, 2023
The line went out badly near Echo Lake, and there was no way to pretend otherwise. Fishing has a way of making impatience visible. The water does not care how clean the cast looked in a person's head. I watched the weat…
June 29, 2023
Passed through Mountainside and caught one small thing: a sign, a doorway, somebody carrying coffee too carefully. That was the whole note. Some towns are mostly made of things you only see while stopped at a light.
June 24, 2023
A cardinal held still near the road longer than I expected. Traffic kept moving. A door shut somewhere. The bird or animal did not seem interested in becoming a lesson. That is probably why I noticed it. Suburban New Je…
June 13, 2023
The page of Byron was sitting beside a folded napkin, which was probably the right amount of drama for the room. Byron is easy to admire for the wrong reasons. The speed, the pose, the beautiful wound, the refusal to si…
June 10, 2023
A church bulletin sat next to the open page, and John 1 did not need much decoration. I read it slowly because I have a bad habit of making familiar words too easy. A verse can become furniture if a person only walks pa…
June 6, 2023
Stopped near Warinanco Park long enough to check the water and make one bad cast. No fish. No tragedy. The wind had better timing than I did.
May 30, 2023
I walked a little through Winfield Park with gray light moving across the street. The older blocks had that New Jersey mix of pride and wear. A good front step, a tired sign, a small business opening its door. Nothing d…
May 28, 2023
A heron had the whole block to itself for a moment. Nobody else seemed to notice. That made it better.
May 27, 2023
Roselle looked ordinary from the road, which is usually when a place is easiest to underestimate. Union County keeps a lot of its memory in street names, rail crossings, old storefront shapes, and the odd bend of traffi…
May 22, 2023
A crow by the curb made the traffic look briefly ridiculous. Then the light changed and everyone went back to their errands.
May 21, 2023
Read Matthew 6 while the house was still half-noisy. I did not get far. One sentence was enough to interrupt the mood I was carrying.
May 20, 2023
One open stool at the counter, one cup of coffee, one guy talking like the whole room had subscribed. I miss places where nobody had to turn the moment into a brand.
May 15, 2023
The morning started with cold coffee on the counter and no great feeling of readiness. I said the short prayer anyway. Not because the room changed, and not because I suddenly understood what to do next. Prayer is often…
May 11, 2023
The afternoon started with an old pen on the kitchen table and no great feeling of readiness. I said the short prayer anyway. Not because the room changed, and not because I suddenly understood what to do next. Prayer i…
May 8, 2023
The shoes were by the door before I felt like walking. That is usually how health works for me. The useful thing has to be started before the mood agrees to it. Sleep, food, walking, lifting, water, less noise. None of…
May 3, 2023
Kenilworth looked ordinary from the road, which is usually when a place is easiest to underestimate. Union County keeps a lot of its memory in street names, rail crossings, old storefront shapes, and the odd bend of tra…
May 2, 2023
Union looked better from the side street than from the main road. That is usually true of New Jersey towns. You have to miss the quickest way through.
April 26, 2023
The thing that stayed with me was not a headline but a kitchen detail: rationing, blackout cloth, a careful hand with what was left. World War II can become too clean in memory if it is only told through victories. The…
April 24, 2023
The evening started with gas-station coffee in the cup holder and no great feeling of readiness. I said the short prayer anyway. Not because the room changed, and not because I suddenly understood what to do next. Praye…