It’s true—I was actually born on a Wednesday. I wouldn’t describe myself “full of woe,” though. I was an anxious kid for sure, but I also had a sunny streak; I was always full of energy and ideas, quick to laugh. And thanks in large part to a mom who wasn’t an anxious parent, whoContinue reading “Wednesday’s Child: The Locksmith”
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Aikido and Rhetoric: Practice
Instructors can impart only a fraction of the teaching. It is through your own devoted practice that the mysteries of the Art of Peace are brought to life. Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace I say to them that if they are to excel in oratory or in managing affairs or in any line ofContinue reading “Aikido and Rhetoric: Practice”
Advent Calendar Story: Day 25 (Epilogue)
“Verbum caro factum est….” Ursula had always thought of the Christmas hymn as far too glum for the happy news it bore: The Word has become flesh and dwelt among us. But today to her ears the music sounded joyful. It was funny how that worked, she thought with a smile: if you were sad,Continue reading “Advent Calendar Story: Day 25 (Epilogue)”
Christmas Cookie Crime Scene
Advent Calendar Story: Day 19
The Laundry Ursula laughed out loud to herself as she hung out yet another set of sheets in the drying room above the hospital ward in the castle. She was working just as hard now if not harder than she had in the tower. And yet the work felt so much easier. It was warm,Continue reading “Advent Calendar Story: Day 19”
Advent Calendar Story: Day 18
The Letter Leopold sat down at his desk and looked at the letter lying on it in front of him. Bernard had given it to him as soon as he had returned from Regensburg. Leopold recognized Sigismund’s own spidery hand in the address. He shook his head. Things were not going well. He was notContinue reading “Advent Calendar Story: Day 18”
Advent Calendar Story: Day 12
The Toyseller It was hard to know what to pick. Ursula jingled the copper pennies in her fist and glanced back and forth between a little rag doll with a flouncy dress and button eyes and a wooden horse with wheels you could pull by a string. At last she decided that if it wereContinue reading “Advent Calendar Story: Day 12”
Red Pandas in snow
youtube.com/watch If your week is starting out like…you know…I think the odds that you can get it back on track by watching this video are actually quite good.
Advent Calendar Story: Day 10
Women Winding a Ball of Yarn “Don’t fidget!” snapped Aunt Elisabeth. The silence was what was making Ursula fidget. Usually her aunt gossiped away about the neighbors as they wound balls of yarn together for her knitting work, but not today. Ursula didn’t mind winding so much as spinning. True, her arms got tired fromContinue reading “Advent Calendar Story: Day 10”
Advent Calendar Story: Day 9
The Gaming Booth Ursula stood with a cup of glühwein warm in her hands watching two little boys play games in the Christmas Market. They were tossing wooden rings at a wall of pegs in the hopes of winning a little whittled cat with its barky tail curled winsomely around its belly. She couldn’t believeContinue reading “Advent Calendar Story: Day 9”
The Rookery 