On Sorrow and Sunlight
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Hello friends, This morning, the rose city of Portland Oregon is shrouded in fog. Just yesterday afternoon, I walked in cool, crisp air and autumn sunlight. Tomorrow, it will rain. And such is life… days shifting from sun to fog to rain and back again. This past week, very little work has gotten done. Well, not the work on my schedule. Not the emails that need answering or the novel I’m almost finished writing. Not getting necessary paperwork to the book keeper. Not the ordering of books for delivery to people waiting…. There were walks in both sun and rain. There were copious cups of tea. There was waiting to hear from the medical examiner, and cleaning out an apartment filled with years of neglect. There was the comfort of reading on a lunch break, or evenings spent watching a kindly Scottish veterinarian in the Yorkshire dales in the late 1930s. And such is the effect of death, in the midst of life. Death requires its own paperwork and chores. Death also requires care and rest and respite, just like life. Hold onto life, my friends. Take joy and comfort where and when you can. Offer support and comfort in return. We’re all in this life together, spinning through a vast cosmos, filled with stars. Thanks for being here. Best wishes — Thorn
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T. Thorn Coyle
Hello friends, It is early January. Another Gregorian calendar year. Outside my window, the sun shines after rain. Wisps of grey clouds hover low, kissing utility wires. It’s gorgeous outside, and feels still. The air is cold and soft with moisture. Crows call to one another, cars drive by. Tea steams its fragrance at my side. Today is another day to ponder, work, and plan. Today is another day to choose. What will you choose, repeatedly, this year? What do you plan? What might you build?...
Hello friends, Believe it or not—and despite the first paragraph—below are more thoughts about hope… As one Gregorian calendar year draws to a close, many of us are gazing into a highly volatile, uncertain future. The US economy seems to teeter on a precipice. With scant oversight and terrified or deported workers, our food supply is both compromised and costly. Environmental regulations are gutted. Families are rent apart. Too many people live in fear of what the next day will offer. This...
Hello friends, “Light is returning, even though this is the darkest hour. No one can hold back the dawn…” – Charlie Murphy & Jami Sieber It’s Solstice weekend as I write this. It is cold outside. There’s flooding not far from here. There are families afraid to go to work or school. There are people hoarding power and wealth who care only for themselves. There are mass shootings. War. There are people fueled by cruelty, hatred, and fear. These are dark times, indeed. These are also times of...