Winter and the presence of God

A gray ooze has devoured the horizon and wrapped the sky in a damp, claustrophobic dreariness. The sun has been swallowed up; beneath a tinplate damp life shivers, slapping arms and stamping feet to stay warm. A monochromatic twilight robs the desert of its color, while an icy wind rips the last few ... Continue reading

Depressed by jazz

I don't grok jazz.My local PBS station plays jazz at night, and I listen from time to time, hoping that my mother's asparagus theory will win out.(Certain disgusting vegetables, like asparagus, are an acquired taste, according to my mother. She claimed that if I kept choking them down, I'd ... Continue reading

Thinking about beauty

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart. —Kahlil Gibran I stood upon the rocky summit of Artist's Point in Yosemite National Park and gazed out across a wide valley. To my left, El Capitan ascended into the low-lying clouds, its dark granite cold and forbidding. To my right, ... Continue reading