Echoes and Stars

1.Something happens in the news. Think piece is written. Rinse (forget) and repeat.

2. Tomorrow I get to wear jeans to work and there are gonna be bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. I will do whatever they ask me to do.

3. I don’t know if I’m more upset by those who used Ashley Madison to cheat on their spouses or those who use it for self-promotion.

4. Last night I finished a book of interviews with Seamus Heaney. I grew cold towards the book in the middle. But the end was worth it. I am richer now.

5. Morality is not our great struggle. It is the struggle to believe we are accepted and loved by the King of the Universe because of what he did and not what we do or did not do.

6. My wife made some chicken salad this week I would knock over a nun for.

7. Contra the naysayers, the reel mower is working out wonderfully. Working in the yard is far more enjoyable and we think it looks better than ever. (Eats quinoa)

8. My kids should be the ones I want to show grace to the most and yet…

9. I’m actually not sure we are supposed to be eating Quinoa.

10. The last Christmas before my Dad went on ahead, my parents gave me a telescope. They knew my love for sitting out in the yard and looking into the night sky. I think I used it once soon after. There was a string of really cold nights and the gift was pushed into a corner. About that time a darker night came and I could not bring myself to use it. I had trouble enjoying just about anything. Around the same time I remember taking out the trash on one of those perfect winter nights when the sky shines with stars from every corner and your eyes cannot catch them all. But I could not enjoy it. The very thing I used to crave and long for during the day was set against the darkness of the next day and the next day. I couldn’t even look up.

The other night I dusted off the telescope and we looked at the moon and saw it’s jagged edges and chalky canyons and oooooed and ahhhhed in the brightness of the night and I smiled at the future.