Today the Electoral College meets. Another failsafe in the long process to the transition of presidential power. This year it is more significant given the rabbit-hole our country was drug into 6 weeks ago. Robert Kennedy said, “the work of our hands, matched to reason and principle, will determine destiny.” What happens when those in power no longer operate with principle or reason? Two weeks from now an estimated 50 million people could face eviction, and an additional 35 million will

Proust had his madeleines; I have loaf meat.

Proust had his madeleines; I have loaf meat. I made a whopping big pile of meat loaf, or loaf meat as my Polish grandmother would say, last weekend. It was exquisite. It had just the right balance of flavors and got better with age. It made me remember weekends when I was little. Every Sunday after church, Dad and I would tune the radio station to the Eddie Blazonczyk polka show, hearing such classics as the “Too Fat Polka.” (I-don’t-want-her, you-can-have-her, she’s-too-fat-for-me.) Then we

New Year’s Eve is three weeks out and I’m wondering if I made any resolutions last year that I’ve misplaced along the way. It was actually last December 31st when the first official COVID case was reported. If that seems like a million years ago or just yesterday, I get it.

New Year’s Eve is three weeks out and I’m wondering if I made any resolutions last year that I’ve misplaced along the way. It was actually last December 31st when the first official COVID case was reported. If that seems like a million years ago or just yesterday, I get it. After spending nine months in “suspended animation,” time is harder to pin down. Without the normal comings-and-goings that once shaped our lives, our brains are challenged to anchor us in the day, the week, or even the month

Throughout this pandemic, I have been traveling a lot without leaving my house.

Throughout this pandemic, I have been traveling a lot without leaving my house. When I head to the basement, an audiobook of Ian Rankin's, In the House of Lies transports me to Edinburgh. After hearing James McPherson read while I do laundry, my thoughts are refashioned into words with a Scottish lilt. During afternoons in the garden, Leonardo Padura's novel, The Man Who Loved Dogs , whisks me through Europe, Cuba and Mexico as I follow the lives of Leon Trotsky and his assassin Ramón Mercader.

As the Northern Hemisphere pitches towards the dark time, we hang lights on trees inside and outside our houses. I think about how Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.”

As the Northern Hemisphere pitches towards the dark time, we hang lights on trees inside and outside our houses. I think about how Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” William Paul Young, author of “The Shack,” said that “according to John’s gospel, Jesus said this during the great day of the Feast of Booths, when young men climbed onto lampstands seventy-five feet high. They poured oil and set them on fire.” Jesus, the light of the world, said this under gigantic torches roaring, that lit

According to legend, Santa leaves lumps of coal in the stockings of naughty children. This year he may need 536 of them, one for every member of Congress and a lump for Trump. How have they been naughty? Actually, they have been shamefully negligent. They abandoned millions of Americans by allowing all but two of the pandemic aid programs to expire. The last two expire the day after Christmas.