This is our morning view over Lake Tanganyika from the tiny guest cottage that is our home for two weeks. At all times of the day we can hear a myriad of insects and birds, and when the dog barks in the evening, it means that there are zebras feeding close by beyond the homemade brick walls. Life is much simpler here for us, especially today since a thunderstorm knocked out the electricity, and the […]
Three specific personal experiences make me think of how important it is to give when it is not expected and cannot be reciprocated. In two, I was the receiver. In the other, I was the giver. All of them happened when I was traveling with or to see my middle daughter, and they all have to do with baggage. Maybe there is some symbolism here! Sometimes I think traveling is when the truest moments come, when you […]
In my work with mothers of newborns, sleep and the lack of it is a critical factor. These women are so tired: bone-weary, lid drooping, mind wandering tired. And yet somehow they go on. Mothers keep doing what needs to be done past what feels like human capacity. I see it regularly, and I remember it well. The intensity of it never completely leaves you. As they talk to me, as I watch their faces […]
A handful of quietness 