Bluebell
A sole Spanish Bluebell wood hyacinth sprouted this week in the Katan-Ensor Preserve flowerbed along the hill above the horse barn. A bright overcast sky created its iridescent metallic colors. Perhaps more will spring up. I confirmed the bluebell’s identification with a Granby CT master gardener who knew Joan Katan and said: “Joan would have … More Bluebell
Hope Rises
Hope rises when we enter the lives of others to understand our common humanity. Hope rises when we lift everyone in our community; when we see each other, hear each other, respect each other, help each other. Hope rises when we build affordable housing, reach out to the homeless, ensure no one goes hungry, provide … More Hope Rises
Where Are They Now?
This photo haunts me. How are the Hartford area homeless families that once slept in these beds coping today? Where are they? Where is home? On a freezing February 11, 2020, one of the fifteen Tuesday nights from this past December through March that Hartford’s Immanuel Congregational Church volunteered as an overflow shelter during the … More Where Are They Now?
Indifference Helps the Oppressor, Never the Oppressed
Indifference manifests itself in ignorance, silence and blind acceptance. Turning our backs to the injustices suffered by the marginalized, vulnerable, and victimized in our local communities and around the world is a weak and heartless admission that the status quo is just fine with us when it doesn’t affect our lives directly — at least … More Indifference Helps the Oppressor, Never the Oppressed
The Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, An Accessible Path to Nature
Celebrating the Trail’s Accessibility to Nature April is here. The weather warms, days lengthen, plants sprout, and birds arrive. Earth Day, April 22nd, is a day to celebrate one of my favorite stretches of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, the roughly three and one quarter miles running through wetlands and farmland from Copper Hill Road in … More The Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, An Accessible Path to Nature
Celebrating Fifty Years of Hands On Hartford
It’s Time to Celebrate Fifty Years of Hands On Hartford! That’s right, fifty years! Fifty years of Hands On Hartford helping Hartford. Since its founding as Center City Churches in 1969, Hands On Hartford has been committed to feeding, clothing, housing, and caring for Hartford’s most vulnerable residents, all with the helping hands of countless generous donors, volunteers … More Celebrating Fifty Years of Hands On Hartford
Navigating a Segregated Nation with the Green Book
“For African-American travelers in the Jim Crow-era South—often journeying from the north to visit relatives who had not joined the Great Migration—an unprepossessing paper-bound travel guide often amounted to a survival kit. The Green Book often functioned as a lifesaver,” writes Kathleen Burke of the Smithsonian. The recently released movie Green Book, which opened to much acclaim, depicts … More Navigating a Segregated Nation with the Green Book
In Honor of a Doughboy’s Service
A few years before he died in 1988 at age 98, my grandfather shared some his World War I memories with his nursing home friends. While scarce on details, what he did share remained strong in his mind. Howard Emanuel Stickles, a Simsbury, Connecticut native, served in France with the U.S. Army’s 76th Infantry Division … More In Honor of a Doughboy’s Service
A Perfect Match
On Saturday, October 20, 2018, Georges Annan Kingsley awoke to a new life. Georges received his long awaited kidney transplant the night before. A perfect match, his new kidney worked immediately. This perfect match was on top of another successful transplant just twenty-three days earlier. On September 27, 2018, the United States welcomed Georges as a … More A Perfect Match
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