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Dear friends, I just got home (to Mechanicsburg). It was a long drive (3.5 hours) but a few podcasts kept me going- and a little coffee. I’m happy to be home, of course, but already missing the BRC. It is such a special place- a place apart that, without even trying, gives you a newContinue reading “Letters from Brookland (4)”

Dear friends, It is a joy to be in a place of such natural beauty and… get one’s work done at the same time! This morning I woke at dawn and was greeted by a moody sky and a fresh blanket of snow. Waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, I stood at the longContinue reading “Letters from Brookland (3)”

Tuesday morning. I have a whole day stretching out in front of me with no online appointments. That is a real gift. I began the morning with a cup of coffee and a quick tour outside. There were deer tracks in the snow under the apple tree and the sun was doing its best toContinue reading “Letters from Brookland (2)”

Dear friends, I’m here at the Brookland Retreat Center in the Northern Tier of our diocese enjoying a “Bishop’s Week in Residence.” I’m here because I wanted to open space up to others in our diocese who might be curious about this place and to invite them to come for a day, or to spendContinue reading “Letters from Brookland”

One year after an adductoplasty Author’s note: I’m writing this, really, for myself, to add to the record of my adductoplasty adventure and not to whine. That may surprise you because in this piece, I do some major whining. Feel free to scroll on. To be fair, I never really asked. I never queried myContinue reading “C-“

A trio of Maine Stories Preface Almost every summer of my 66 years, I have spent some time in Maine. My ancestor, James Millay, came from County Kilkenny, Ireland, to Maine in the mid-18th century and planted our family’s heritage Down East. My great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, parents, cousins and siblings have all spentContinue reading “Dirigo”

The post that I wrote the other day, (Rocks, and more Rocks) is absolutely true. But there’s a lot to a hike- even a 4 day hike- that goes on in the head. My self-talk is informed by my gender (woman hiking alone- a cultural curiosity- one guy actually asked me if it was “okContinue reading “The B side”

On Friday morning at the crack of dawn, my husband dropped me off at the bridge at Swatara Gap (PA), the northernmost point (at that point) in my PA trek on the Appalachian Trail. I’ve hiked most of the AT in CT (save 6 miles) with my daughter Emma (a.k.a. “Fern”) and going southbound, I’veContinue reading “Rocks. And more rocks.”

About ten days ago, gearing up for my final “post surgical appointment” six months out, I developed a little bit of tenderness in my foot. Then I developed a bit of swelling. Then a lot of swelling. Hmmm. I’d been doing so well- back to walking in the morning at least three or four miles-Continue reading “not so fast…”

It would be great if I could promise that this is the final word on my recovery from surgery in November in these pages (it’s tiresome, isn’t it?) but since I’ve been told that the “full recovery” for my surgery of foot reconstruction can take up to a year, that’s not a promise that IContinue reading “A Fellowship of Frailty”