I did not realize how spacious my head had become until my one-month stay in Uganda ended and I returned to Asheville for work. I was feeling full and had symptoms of a cold that made my head fuller. One leg of the journey, from Qatar to Philadelphia airport was 13 hours and 46 minutes […]
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In Praise of Shitholes
Consider the shithole: It does not envy the hand for being the hand, it does not envy the feet for their gift of movement, it does not strike against other body parts, but in humility and pride carries on its duty without complaint, aiding bodily functions, enabling the health of the body as a whole. […]
Sacred Delight or Eating Husbands
I’m at home past lunch hour. The adults are fed, the children are watching TV in the sitting room. I have a moment to myself, so I decide to sit outside and enjoy the warmth of the sun. I see a praying mantis resting on the fender of the car, then another joins. This is […]
End of the semester, near end of year and the many endings of things, which also imply beginnings and the substance of gathering.
Let me start from the middle. It was in San Francisco in July this year that I experienced life profoundly during a visit to the Minnesota Street Project, housed in three warehouses in Dogpatch district. The warehouses themselves, while they looked newly refurbished, still “betrayed” an air of abandonment from their previous lives. There was […]
California Summer 2017
30 days on a houseboat in Sausalito, California The word that sums up my time is Immersion, not just my work but everything around me. A few days after I arrive, I’m all in, a sweet spot to be. Wide windows bring in light, beauty and joy. I’m wrapped in light as I revise my […]
Remind Me of What We Have
Today is the last day of class and it coincides with the passing on of my father. Exactly one year. I’m filled with warmth and gratitude for all the love and comforting presences of my friends and family. There’s this phrase playing in my head again and again: Remind me of what we have. I […]
Remembering Okla Elliott
Non-stop news of death and dying this week and last week. When that starts to overwhelm I wonder why my friends are dying. Why seemingly everyone I know as a friend, family or colleague is losing a family member or friend. The air is pregnant with death I cannot wait for it to break. I […]
The first Christmas without Dad
This is the first Christmas without Dad. I thought I was going to be strong. I’m trying to be strong. As early as September, the time I normally book my ticket home, I realized I didn’t want to go home for the first time in many years and I knew why. Dad was my Christmas […]
Celebrations
We just celebrated the turning of maples with mapleshapedcookies the hopicecream and applecider It occurred to me how it takes so little to celebrate Back home we only acknowledged big events I know why Birthdays weren’t among the big events But funerals were. And baptisms, marriages–the arc Birth, Weddings, Death. The […]
Just a tiny, weeny bit about my father
May 1st When dad died I wanted to touch people. A few minutes after I got the news, I was thirsty, very thirsty, so I started drinking water and more water. Hours later, I wanted to hug people and just get lost in their warm, strong arms. Not just friends but strangers too. But mostly, […]
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MKB: Dear Nyakisa, Good news! "The Animals of My Earth...
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Nyakisa Beth: Will it be available in Uganda?...
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Wm Epes: Dr. Barya: Hope you are well. Enj...
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