introspection Archives - Page 2 of 2

February 2, 2010August 18, 2024

Back to Reality

I saw a guy experiencing homelessness this morning, and I have seen him before.

Often he has a shopping cart with 4 or 5 suitcases on it. He dresses in brown, or maybe his suit jacket is just covered with the product of months or years of street life.

There were no suit cases this morning.

The man sat against the base of a concrete box in the train station, rocking with his hands between his thighs for warmth.

My cheeks were pierced with cold, so his must’ve been numb–his beard looked thin and disheveled, not helpful.

His rocking was sad; his posture like a vertical fetal position wishing for the comfort of the womb.

[An expanded version of this essay appears in my book Kneading Journalism]

November 4, 2009July 5, 2017

There’s a calm that comes from a river blown breeze. Like a chilled embrace of an unseen watcher, the breeze brings me past the crowds of gawkers and pilgrims, and sets me in the foyer of Cologne’s massive cathedral.

Continue reading “A House of God”

July 24, 2009November 21, 2019

Ziggy Wisdom

I remember an old Ziggy comic, in which round-headed Ziggy sits with his dog on a cliff’s edge admiring the sunset. He remarks to his dog, “He does great work, doesn’t he?” It’s a simple homage to a greater power, and the logic (or belief) behind it can be applied to most anything in life. I remember and come back to that Ziggy wisdom occasionally because of its simplistic depth…an elementary understanding of something complicated, which to me makes perfect sense.

Now in Berlin, I am reenacting that Ziggy moment almost every night. Our view of the horizon has brought unbelieveable sunsets into our life, which make for interesting Futter für die Seele. (Food for the Soul)

November 16, 2008August 15, 2020

Adapting to “Normal”

You could call this a precursor to the much-anticipated “In Search of Blue Water: Part 2.” I’m sure my reflections on sailing the coastal waters of Catalina/Santa Barbara Islands will be just as potent, if not more introspective. This post is my warm-up. The last weeks re-acclimating to the U.S., to another time zone, to “standard” food, entertainment, and everyday trials have been interestingly frustrating. No thanks to, but not exclusively because of, the Sandman.

Continue reading “Adapting to “Normal””

October 26, 2008August 15, 2020

In Search of Blue Water: Part 2

Though most of the island trails were blocked by makeshift barriers to protect nesting pelicans and seagulls, two prized trails were still open for conquest–the one to the peak of Santa Barbara Island, and another to a small lighthouse on the very edge of the island.

We had sailed for hours from Catalina, seeing nothing but rolling waves and the occasional scavenging bird.

Now was our time. Santa Barbara has no residents, and only a small ranger house, and we would exploit that freedom in every way possible: to enjoy what nature had set neatly and alone off the coast of California.

Continue reading “In Search of Blue Water: Part 2”

July 14, 2008August 15, 2020

In Search of Blue Water: Part 1

Editor’s Note: This is the first of three narrative accounts of a journey at sea. More dispatches to land in the coming days.

It’s sometimes hard to swallow: the stinging reality of things we can’t change. As regular readers of this site know, my best friend Joe is heading to Iraq on a 1-year deployment.

I’ve known him for many years, since our days teaching at a Boy Scout camp in the Inland Northwest. Joe taught lifesaving, and I taught rowing, but we both cherished sailing. We were both introduced to harnessing wind by a laughing coworker pushing us into a small boat, alone.

Those coworkers are long gone, most never having sailed again. Joe and I…are sailors.

Continue reading “In Search of Blue Water: Part 1”

February 3, 2008October 2, 2021

“And Jesus wept…”

Die-hard football fans already know this, I’m sure, but the New England Patriots failed to reach “Perfection,” as color commentators had labeled it, instead falling to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl tonight.

For this post, I’ll resist the temptation to focus on the use of “perfection” to describe richly/over-paid athletes. I have many problems with professional sports, notably among those problems is hero-worship, and the mind-boggling amounts of money thrown at a game in salaries, advertising, etc.

Today, however, being the biggest game of the season, takes this show of capitalistic prowess to a new level. This level happened to be above the call of God, according to one Phoenix-area church.