The Journey

Abruptly, the asphalt ends,the tires dust up dirt and stonesending the white bug of a rental carbumping along a one-lane trackthreading through plywood shacksthat remind him of Deliverance.Ahead, the path is swallowed by a stream. No place to turn around. Google...

By Mary McKSchmidt It was a whimsical thought,the kind that driftslike a low-hanging cloudover a marginal seastill reelingfrom last night’s storm;the kind thatdemands attention--like the lingering wavescurling, crashing, flatteningthe powdery white sandalongside...

​Photographed at the Gulf Islands National Seashore By  Mary McKSchmidt When she said she wanted to hike the planet, he saidafter an hour all trees lookthe same; to which she said the wildflowers, butterfliesand birds feed my spirit; to which he...

​not as farnot as fastnot as many daysbut still out there lookinglisteninghoping I remember ​by Mary McKSchmidt

By Mary McKSchmidt Like the colorful ribbon of a balloonpartially buried in the sand,or the aluminum edging of a beer cantossed in the soft of a season’s first snow,the flash of purple on a park benchcauses me to break stride, turn back,pick up the unfamiliar card...

Birthday RibbonsPicture​Seven years ago, my little sister died very suddenly a week after her husband’s heart attack. We are a small family – just the two of us and our parents came as refugees in the 50’s. My sister and I were close – a kind of phone call every...

By Mary McKSchmidt ​In the middle of another night, awakelistening to the endless chimes of the grandfather clock announcingfrom the living room downstairsthat another fifteen minutes of sleep are forever gone, consumed by a mind that refuses peace,...

By Dirk Hollebeek ​​I don’t consider myself much of a joiner but recently my wife and I joined a book club, my first but not hers. There are a lot of Reformed pastors and teachers in the group, and so, the first book selected was The Blood of the...

On a bench shielded from the afternoon sun by seven cottonwood trees, Mother and I watched the parade of boats, birds and people alongside Lake Macatawa for years. The only bench on the south side of the lake offering such protection from the afternoon sun, it was...

Fifteen years ago, I hiked the state and national parks from the Indiana Dunes to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I remember my delight at discovering this place of tranquility in Ludington State Park. I don't remember sitting on the bench. I was younger...

It was Mother who suggested photographing her standing next to the saguaros while hiking the trails in the Rincon Mountains. Who would believe they can grow so tall?! Be so majestic? For the twenty-plus years Mother lived in Arizona, she introduced her many...

Sharing Multiplies the Joy Nearing the end of my summer morning walk along the shores of Little Traverse Bay, I came upon an SUV parked along the narrow road. One woman carefully picked her way along the narrow rocky beach. Another, leaning forward in what we have...