When I was 15, I met God in a Vermont meadow. I was riding a horse bareback in the July sun, feeling his warm hide and coarse hair under my shorts-clad legs. I was in the middle of the meadow, which gradually sloped down into a glittering spring-fed lake. The meadows were high and uncut…
I’m a homebody. Or rather a “housebody.” My preferred place is indoors, especially at my own house. But what if, in God’s plan, he meant me for more? I love being in my kitchen when it’s filled with food, drink, and conversation. I love spending a quiet evening playing games or doing jigsaw puzzles beside…
I’m not an outdoors person. At least, that’s not how I have ever described myself. After all, I’m not fond of bugs or dirt or rocks, and the outdoors holds a plethora of each. But recently I wondered if I should stop refusing to wear that title. Because my denial might not be entirely accurate….
My father and I shared our minds and Musings one late crisp eve. He beckoned my eyes to descry in the distance A silhouette of symmetry. A towering tree loomed in the darkness. Its branches clouded, its treetop round, Perfectly shaped as by a sculptor’s hand. To a secret, this tree was bound. The night…
Late winter is often particularly dark and dank. My doldrums are deep; the brief respite of sun and warmth too rare. Cranky, I put one foot ahead of the other, get done what needs to be done, oblivious to subtle renewal around me, refusing to believe even in the possibility. It happened today. Dawn broke…
When I was nine, my family moved to a seven-acre plot of land. At night, cicadas buzzed and lightening bugs rose simultaneously with a mist from the creek. We ate mulberries from the tree while slapping mosquitos, and I trained tender pale-green pea vines up wire mesh. We spied goldfinches and bright-breasted orioles and mimicked…