Pelicans “Just Visiting” Along the Mississippi River

Byriehlifegrace April 8, 2007April 8, 2007

Pelicans link my lives in two locations this morning.

Daniel and I see pelicans when we kayak on Clear Lake in Northern California. We paddle round the small peninsula, and there, they are! A cloud of squawking white swirling and settling on the water.

I see a blur of pelicans this morning, looking over my shoulder, as I drive on the River Road to church in Alton, Illinois. I slow down to see the sudden island of white as they rest on a sandbar in the middle of the Mississippi. Their awkward grace takes my breath away. And then, one opens its mouth. It’s big enough to hold a woman’s handbag for a jailbreak.

Stone Soup

Hardworking Roses: abundance and generosity multiply like rose petals

Byriehlifegrace March 10, 2008April 9, 2010

You’ll recall I received two dozen roses this Valentine’s Day. As it turns out, both bouquets were from one man, my sweetheart of yore, my dear-hearted friend of now, Daniel Holland, of Lake County in Northern California. As it turns out, Daniel ordered one dozen roses and Fortune multiplied his order by two. The arithmetic…

Land Nurtures Generations of Dreamers, Doers, and Writers

Byriehlifegrace May 8, 2007June 2, 2008

When I was growing up we still put up hay by hand, rode horses, milked cows, butchered, gardened and put up our own food, and sewed up ruptured hogs. But, most of all, when I was growing up the land nurtured me as a dreamer. The land raised me as a poet and writer. I…

Space Design Meets Life Design Meets Spiritual Practice: Outer, Inner, Secret, and Innermost Secret

Byriehlifegrace July 13, 2008

African goddess mask emerging from Botswana basket…greeting and welcoming guests as they enter the Goddess Gathering Room. —JGR The phrase “Outer, Inner, Secret, and Innermost Secret” comes from a practice sequence in Tibeten Buddhism. OUTER In the design of space in my apartment, the Outer room in the front room…what most folks would call the…

“Stepping Out,” a poem by Janet Grace Riehl on shoes, reconciliation, and finding your own path

Byriehlifegrace June 18, 2007May 16, 2008

She walks in beauty, like the night.—Lord Byron Walking the Beauty Way. –Navajo I stand in my Mother’s shoes—a few sizes too big for me. Mother is dead and gone. She has passed over. I stand in my sister’s shoes—a few sizes too big for me. Julia is dead and gone. She has passed over….

Pelicans “Just Visiting” Along the Mississippi Flyway

Byriehlifegrace March 30, 2008

Pelicans were part of my lyric life in Northern California as Daniel and I paddled round the small peninsula on Clear Lake in our kayaks and there, they are! A cloud of squawking white swirling and settling on the water. I see a blur of pelicans this morning, looking over my shoulder, as I drive…

A Young Boy Learns to Pray: bedtime vespers

Byriehlifegrace November 18, 2007June 2, 2008

My niece Janean (by way of my brother Gary) is such a good mother. She wrote this touching email to my father who shared it with me. Now Janean has agreed to share it with all of you. It’s a fine example, I think, of moral and spiritual education…of giving structure, but also, giving space….

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply