THE SOUND OF SILENCE Wise men have written that if one attains enlightenment, the need for words falls away. What exists is perfect silence.  I don’t know if the statement is true and I do know my level is enlightenment is about the thickness of a sheet of paper, but as I grow olde

WRITERS AND INSECTS HAVE MUCH IN COMMON For the past two years, few honey bees visited my garden; but this season they are back. I’ve always had bumble bees. It’s hard to miss them with their large furry bodies and black and yellow stripes. The honey bees, being smaller and less c

WHO KNEW?  BLOGS ARE GOOD FOR YOU Last Thursday I went with a friend to see ”Inception,” a film that explores dream- like states as an extension of reality. He said the movie was good, but I suspect he wanted to go because of the popcorn. Once his container is empty, he usually f

Thanks for the recent thumbs up, Panchomayeti.  I’m beginning to see that you have a taste for whimsy.  Me too, obviously.

IDEAS ARE MORE RELIABLE THAN BIRDS As I write, I’ve just finished lunch. I eat around 2 p.m. when I don’t meet a friend. It’s usually my main meal of the day. At night I settle for something light, not in terms of calories, I mean light terms of the number of dishes to wash. In

THE COMPASSIONATE HEART I had lunch with a friend recently. We meet periodically to catch up. He leads a busy life and so I treasure our times together. Five years before, he made a mistake that betrayed people dear to him.Each time we meet, he tells me how hard he’s working to make

Hi everyone, I recorded a half hour interview with Ed Goldberg on July 29 for his program “Between the Covers” on KBOO-FM community radio. We talk about my novels Heart Land and Gothic Spring.  Ed’s remarks were insightful.  You might enjoy them. http://kboo.fm/no

WILL ROGERS SHOULD HAVE MET A LIBRARIAN I confess I never read “Winnie the Pooh” until I was an adult. But I did read “Now We are Six” by Milne when I was about eight or nine. I was in elementary school and I remember the librarian, a woman who looked like the

THE TRUTH OF FICTION I’ve just finished reading a novel by Richard Clarke, his first, called The Scorpion’s Gate. Normally he writes non-fiction. His best seller, Against All Enemies, deals with his experiences in the Middle East while he served in military and national security p

THE ORIGAMI OF LIFE  I was amazed. I admit it. I’d never paid much attention to the art of origami before, but after seeing the film “Between the Folds,” I experienced a revelation. Of course, I’d seen women at the Japanese Garden fold birds or flowers from a single sheet of