Julia Nielsen moved to Portland about the same time I moved to Portland. We friended each other on facebook first due to knowing we were becoming colleagues. We had a few mutual friends in Ohio and they were cool connections as she was moving from Ohio and I went to seminary in the midwest and…United…
The World Ablaze
Yesterday as we were hiking I looked to a field of brilliant green. I just couldn’t get over how green the greenest of things was yesterday. One of my favorite sights in spring is when the new shoots of a plant is shooting out of the old growth. The new green looks almost lit up…
Camino Countdown: 93 days and three months from tomorrow!
Ana and I have been talking all week and we were both agreed. We desperately needed to get out of the city. Our flat and the concrete of being in our neighborhood all of the time was really getting to both of us. We both also love nature and hiking around. We are not always…
Camino Countdown: 100 DAYS!!
I feel a little like I am back in elementary school when you celebrate the 100th day of school but in reverse. We are just 100 days away from our beginning and stepping out of St. Jean and on our new journey. This time of year always brings sweet memories of Camino life since Ana…
People I know: John G
A couple of weeks ago, a postcard came through our mail slot. And it was totally the perfect postcard. It make me laugh to the point that I re read this card four times in a row and when I saw who it was from it made me laugh even harder. The author of the…
Familiar ache of homesickness
Between week bajillion of the state of the world, my birthday, and the calendar even popping up of flying to Portland this week that won’t happen the ache has returned for this week. It is an ache that all people living away from home are familiar with. It is an ache that is pretty consistently…
Camino Countdown: 107 days (3.5 months)!
This morning I woke up, the day after my birthday, and thought, “I really pray that this year is the year I return to the Camino, the year before I turn 40.” 40 is a big number in the Bible and is a holy number for so many of our world religions. 40 is about…
On the eve of turning 39
Tomorrow I turn 39. I turn 39 in the midst of a world wide crisis, a pandemic. I am not the only one to celebrate in the midst of these social distancing months. I have had family celebrate their birthdays afar and my partner had her birthday in March. I am not alone in the…
Week…what is it? Week 9 or so of social distancing?
Here we are. Monday again. My family all zooms together on Sunday evenings now (my evening, their mid morning) and when we all logged on we all kind of looked at each other with not much to report. We talked about what we had been up to…the hikes, the schoolwork, the job reports, the latest…
People I know: Eileen McHill aka Mom
Today is a complicated day for so many people. In some ways I like to think of today as the one in which we honor our moms, chosen or bio, or those who have cared for us along the way. I have three amazing sister in laws who are incredible moms and I have people…
