Summer Reading

Summer Reading

This summer I’ve been walking to a small neighborhood park 

on the east side of  St. Paul.  Once a week I take my lunch, I sit 

and read, I watch people come and go.

There is an old woman in a wheelchair, and a man some years 

younger who sits beside her, reading aloud from a very long book.  

In the heat of summer, they sat in the shade of the trees on the 

lawn.  As autumn has drawn near, they have moved to a sunny 

bench.

She leans toward him in her chair, head angled so that her ear is 

close to his voice.  His finger is tracing the words on the page.  

I think about the intimacy that comes with reading in that way 

over the course of a summer.  I wonder what world they are sharing 

together in this moment.

I finish my lunch and notice these milkweed seeds quivering in 

the breeze at the edge of the park.  Before heading back to work 

I take a few minutes to consider them as well.

~ Hal

Kinni River Barn Dance

Kinni River Barn Dance

This is the second year I’ve had the pleasure of dancing 

in this barn with friends and a great band.  The occasion?  

A party to celebrate our local river and those who love it.

We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful early autumn 

night.  The stars were out, the dew was on the grass, and 

the barn was fairly pulsing with the energy of the band and 

dancers moving together.

The folks at the Kinnickinnic River Land Trust have done 

a spectacular job this year.  My thanks you, and to everyone 

else who takes the time to care for our river.  

~ Hal

Life’s Unquiet Dream

Life’s Unquiet Dream

“Thy light alone... gives grace and truth to life’s unquiet dream”
     ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty”

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I lost my creative rhythm toward the end of this summer.  In mid- 

August I somehow fell out of sync with the regular activity of my 

own life.

Not even our annual canoe trip to the Boundary Waters could bring 

me around.  The photos I wanted to take, among other things, 

seemed just beyond my reach.

It took me the better part of a month to recognize my predicament, 

and then some patience before life’s cadence began to reveal itself 

again.  Up north over the Labor Day weekend, Beauty offered this 

glimpse into the heart of it all.

~ Hal