The Year of Living Covidly

My Uncle Al passed away the day before Thanksgiving. Here is his obituary  Like many deaths in this time of COVID, it was hard. But that's not what I want to focus on. I want to focus on him and his life because he was so much fun.  When we were kids, we were fortunate to be able to spend time on my grandparents farm. My uncle Al who farmed corn, soybeans, and hogs, lived there too. When we would stumble out of bed around eight o'clock, he would often be reading the paper in the rocking chair, on a morning break from the day's worth of work he had already done. As we came down the stairs, he would ask, "Are you sick? You were sleeping so long?" When the grandkids were on these visits to the farm, our Grandma would always say we'd do "something special." Al would chime in, "Yes, we'll have a nice, cold glass of water." When we balked at that, he'd say, "Then maybe a relaxing nap." When we let him know this wasn't what w...

The gold blazing days of autumn With sky full of leaves so bright Lit from without and from within By the glowing champagne light. Colors shining their brilliance upon us Making earth look never so right Rays beaming down their magic Creating that champagne light. The sharp of the clear air dazzles Outlines all within precious sight Aided by sun's rare true devotion Ever casting that champagne light. Our world needs the burnish of seasons Picks no favorite without a fight Advantage goes to the beauty Purveyor of champagne light. Seeing softly effervescent Light enchanting without any might Recalling the stars, the dawn of the cosmos Incredible champagne light. Do my eyes play tricks on my mind? Is it really not such a delight? Or is there truly something sublime In that marvelous champagne light? A brightness escaping from heaven Reflected by angels in flight Shines a newness born of eternal Immortal champagne light. As fall edges closer to winter The shadows make day more like nig...

This past summer when Mary Kay Hersemann, our friend, who also serves as the treasurer for Haitian Hearts, asked me what my favorite color was, I didn't think much about it. Red, I told her. Imagine my delight and surprise when a few months later she dropped off this beautiful quilt at our house. It is one of the nicest gifts I've ever been given. It has so many special touches, like these glittery pockets. Mary Kay keeps her eye out for jeans that she uses to make the quilt. Most special of all, when she is sewing the quilt, she thinks about who she is going to give it to and prays for them. We won't know this side of heaven how people's prayers have helped us. Besides being beautiful, the quilt is warm and snuggly. Here we are after finishing up some Haitian Hearts business. Mary Kay is so selfless in her work for HH and so many other things. She's the one who deserves beautiful gifts, like the one's she gives. Final special touch: I love the MK, her initials ...