I’m trying to remember how this book, Murder on the Red River by Marcie R. Rendon even landed on my shelf. I’m thinking that it must have been a Minnesota Public Radio email — perhaps a book newsletter from Kerri Miller. However it was that I found the title, I’m confident I went to LouiseContinue reading “Book Review: Murder on the Red River”
Author Archives: Rhena
Making Kairos Happen
I have an iPad. I don’t need a journal. I read the daily gospel. I go to church (or at least I did in the time before). I don’t need help drawing closer to God. I’m good. I’m Catholic, for crying out loud. What could I possibly gain from Still, the elegant grey notebook, withContinue reading “Making Kairos Happen”
Single tasking
Here’s part of the after dinner routine. I plonk myself down in a corner of the couch, next to the lamp, with my knitting project bag in hand and summon one of the older two children to my side. “Can you please come read to me?” They read. I knit and listen. It’s lovely. AndContinue reading “Single tasking”
Book Review: The Midnight Library
One of the side benefits of being in a book club is that I end up reading books that I wouldn’t choose to read on my own. The most recent book club selection, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, falls into that category. A head’s up: spoilers may abound ahead (in as much as theyContinue reading “Book Review: The Midnight Library”
Brave on a Bike
I don’t want to have to be brave to get on my bike to run errands. But I do. And it’s not as if I haven’t biked before. When we lived in Minneapolis, I’d bike to parks or to the Farmer’s Market, trailer in tow. And when I lived in Madison (Wisconsin), I owned aContinue reading “Brave on a Bike”
Holy Week Monday
The gospel according to John hit be differently this morning. I’d heard of and spent some time being bothered by one specific verse that I saw differently this morning, finally released from my previous incomplete readings. “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” It was a verse thatContinue reading “Holy Week Monday”
Breaking Habits of Mind
I spent 21 years of my life as a student and I am now 44 years old, which means that I have existed on this planet as a non student just barely longer than as a student. Most habits are hard to break. This is what I learned as a student: every word and sometimesContinue reading “Breaking Habits of Mind”
So Much Depends on a Sidewalk
A few days before Christmas 2020, a crew of men and women pulled up on the road in front of myself and, like a team of angels sent by God herself, installed and finished a six foot wide sidewalk in a few days. In doing so, they removed almost an entire lane’s worth of carContinue reading “So Much Depends on a Sidewalk”
Book: The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers by Bridgett M. Davis
I read this beautiful memoir, The World According to Fannie Davis, a few months ago for book club and am just now having some time (barely) to write down my thoughts about it. I have had a whole mess of thoughts about it and I will try to jot down as many as I canContinue reading “Book: The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers by Bridgett M. Davis”
Asking for more
Once upon a time, I lived in a remote village in northern Thailand. It was about 18 kilometers outside of the provincial capital, which was, itself, a sleepy but charming town which drew visitors to its fields of sunflowers every October. The village I lived in was out a well paved road past rice paddiesContinue reading “Asking for more”
