Bless You?

I think we should be mindful with language, to know what we are saying before we speak. Everybody knows that words are more powerful than sticks and stones despite the schoolyard litany to the contrary. Bones mend, and if you think that words cannot kill you, then the lessons of history have been lost on […]…

Violence

A man with a gun walks into a town hall session in a parking lot in Tucson, Arizona. He kills six people among them a judge, a child, a politician’s staffer, an elderly man, he seriously wounds a US Congresswoman. He is driven by some terrible certainty,  or some incomprehensible logic, or cognitive dysfunction, or […]…

The Legend of Little Germaine

Germaine Van Bibber was nine years old in 1845 when her family joined the wagon train bound for Oregon at Independence, Missouri. Her father, Isaac, was from a venerable Virginia family of Dutch descent. The family of her mother, Anais Josephe Charlebois, was from French Canada by way of Vermont. The Van Bibbers, who had become disillusioned of life in the east, simply packed up their three children one day, and joined Josephe’s brother and new wife who were bound for the Oregon Territory. By the time they reached Southern Idaho, Stephen Meek, an adventurer, mountain man, and experienced guide, convinced a few hundred families, including the Van Bibbers, to leave the main wagon train, which was taking the Oregon Trail to the Willamette Valley, and travel an alternate route through the Cascades, a route he claimed he knew well. Leaving the main wagon train near what is now Vale,…

even the dandelions are beautiful

The cherry tree across the street is thickly blooming. Heavy pink clusters wave in the slight breeze and contrast against the lush green lawn dotted with dandelions. Grape hyacinths edge along the base of the house. Trees all around are pushing out new leaves. Tulips of red, yellow, pink, pumpkin, purple, black, white, striped and […]…