Exploring the Third Season of Life

Notes from Vanaprastha

Reflections on Faith, Nature, and Writing

Recent Posts

Sudden Showers

Sudden Showers

Have you ever been driving along in a rain shower, which suddenly turns into a blinding, thundering downpour? It’s not as if you didn’t see the storm coming. There had been plenty of warning. Looking out your bedroom windows while getting dressed for dinner, clouds...

Eating Dessert First

Eating Dessert First

Life is uncertain…eat dessert first. Remember that t-shirt slogan? On vacation last week, Keith and I visited Michie Tavern in Charlottesville. We helped ourselves to the buffet in the Necessary, ate in the Keeping Hall and shared a dessert of peach cobbler a la...

Radio Essays

Radio Essays

“You’d think I’d asked to sleep with the football team.” “Ok, Tweeple, let’s clean up the language.” “I became a vegetarian in Africa.” “You might not know, but I’m watching you.” Sitting around the seminar table, Keith and I listened to opening lines written by...

Pride

Pride

Last Thanksgiving, I wrote about pride and humility. Today, with yet another graduation speech trending on the Internet, I'm thinking about self-conceit in a different context.   Earlier this month, Wellesley High School English teacher David McCullough, Jr.,...

Fourth Drafts

Fourth Drafts

Whenever I sit down to write a first draft or begin any creative project for that matter, my first effort is usually a childish mess that only a mother could love. Out of that mess comes something that might be good enough for a high school assignment, maybe even a...

Whining

Whining

This past weekend, I logged into one of my email accounts, in order to send a message to my mother, and received this error statement: The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request. Please contact the server...