JWalking: The Blog

I t started out as the good parent thing to do: reading the E -mail update from the middle school lan guage arts teacher about the current topics the kids were studying, projects, due dates and the like. Th e teacher even went so far as to question the parents about their experience with said topics . "What is your writing process like?" "What are your thoughts on revision?" It then became an opportunity for me to share, thinking the teacher would use the responses as part of her teaching material. I took on a few questions in some detail. What I wasn't expecting was the foll ow-up E-mail from the teacher, asking me to be a guest speaker to share directly with some classes about my experience with writing. Suddenly, I had a Dad moment, as in my Dad . Being a now-retired professor , he loves any opportunity to get back into a classroom environment to share his stuff! I definitely didn't accept my invitation with the same kind of confidence and ...

"'W hat will this day be like?' I wonder.   'What will my future be?' I wonder.   It could be so exciting to be out in the world, to be free.   My heart should be wildly rejoicing . Oh, what's the matter with me?...." L ast week, I had to face a day that I had hardly pondered becoming a reality: I announced that I was stepping down from directing the New Hanover JuBELLees--the bell choir that I have directed for seven seasons. A week later, there's a part of me that's still throwing up inside over having made that decision, even though I know it was the decision that I was supposed to make. I had come to the determination a number of weeks ago. It was a troubling feeling. I had felt I lost my passion for what I was doing. Not that I didn't love handbells. This is my lifelong instrument--the only one I've been able to play with any real success. Not that I didn't want a handbell ministry to continue through my church. ...

S he called me again today with tears in her voice. I've spoken with her three times this week: the first, a casual call with a question, after which came some lively conversation; the second, unexpected, with a literal cry of devastation and a complete loss for words; today, the third, still with tears, but also with a request. After a weekend of difficult news and many prayers, my friend just lost a friend. Not just any friend, but a friend of more than 60 years! A friend like a big sister. The kind of friend for which they wrote the "Grow old with me--the best is yet to be!" adage for the framed needlework sampler in your hallway. When you're on the other end of the phone and this call comes in, you find yourself feeling pretty helpless. There are no suitable words. I know well enough to stay far away from pat expressions of sympathy. But I found it hard to come up with much beyond, "Oh.... Oh....," which sounds so useless on the phone. Yet...

W hat seems like long ago on these pages--last summer--were pictures of CJ from a visit to a local treasure, Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. She and I spent a long beautiful morning enjoying the garden displays--inside and out. On the way home, she decided that she would really like to go more often. A membership for Christmas would be a great gift! And, so it is--already! On Christmas Day, CJ received a family membership to the gardens (plus two, for Grandma and Grandpa when they visit, or other guests). What we didn't know is that it came with four tickets to their annual "Gardenfest of Lights." Since we had plans after Christmas, we looked to early January for a late visit to the show. We were not disappointed! Even though they look a bit nervous sitting on this butterfly.... R and I both had cameras that night. His pictures are much better, because he had a tripod and wasn't running. I had the camera looped around my hand, running after RJ2, w...

I didn't know Robert Wood, Jr., until I met him this past Sunday. I don't even remember how I heard the news about him, though I'm guessing it was somebody's Facebook post. What I do remember is "8 years old with autism," lost in Hanover County park. That resonated pretty hard. As I looked at the picture of this boy, which was very quickly everywhere in my sights, I couldn't help but identify. North Anna Battlefield Park, where Robbie got lost, was a place we had visited with the girls. A family hike. I remember the picnic tables near the parking lot and the hilly terrain on the trail. There was whining about going too far, and when could we turn around and go home. Lots of trees and not many obvious markers, clearings or obvious rest stops. Years after our walk, we had to drive up to the park to rescue R, who had popped a bicycle tire on a ride in Doswell. He sat by the tree at the head of the park's driveway. I thought about this child being in ...

W e're wrapping up our week at home in which we had no company, no camps, no summer school, no R--no-thing! We ran some short errands, to keep RJ2 venturing out into new places and to take care of things that needed to be taken care of--like back-to-school supply shopping and spending CJ's birthday gift cards. Oh, and Sweet Frog (frozen yogurt)! There was one more thing on my list--take the girls bowling. RJ2 had such a wonderfully successful moment when she went bowling with the day camp group. CJ and I had a nice morning outing bowling, too. (Except for the Josh Grobin that they were playing that day--a whole album! Really... bowling to Josh Grobin?!) Could we all go bowling together and could this be something we could do as a family? And with cousins on our upcoming "Cousin Tour" road trip? We are fortunate to have AMF based here in Mechanicsville, and our bowling lanes are top-notch. The company has done a lot of work to make the bowling experience fa...

I t was a mixed-weather Sunday. We did have sprinkles, even though Weather.com had the timing all wrong. We did have thunder. Lots of thunder. More thunder than rain, perhaps, though it did manage to pour a little bit. Every little bit helps! What are the JGirls to do to cap off the weekend--with no summer school or any obligations on Monday?.... Camp-out in the Family Room! No, that's not a television evangelist on the screen. That's Bobby Flay from Food Network. One of CJ's favorite shows is "Food Network Star," and Sunday night's show was the "Final 4" episode, leading up to the finale next weekend. Camping, Food Network AND staying up late to watch the whole show?! She could hardly wait. Even though she spent her earliest days in front of "Emeril Live," RJ2 is not a big fan of Food Network, nor of most television in general. She prefers to watch kid programs on her computer, "rewinding...