Why Do You Like to Cook?
Kaylee, age 13: Uncle Hugh, how often do you cook? Me, age 49: I cook something almost every day, and some days I cook two or three times a day. Why? Kaylee: Well, I could tell by the way you…
Hugh's Blog
Hopeful in spite of the facts
Hugh's Blog
Hopeful in spite of the facts
Category Gratitude
2021
I was talking to Renee today about how weird 2021 has been. Nothing really bad happened to us, personally, this year. But the general anxiety of living through the second year of a pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands…
I’m rooting for you.
It’s probably the nicest pool I have ever seen in my life. It’s the half-sized pool, 25 meters long, but so wide it’s almost square. Three walls of the room are floor to ceiling windows, and there are skylights overhead,…
Miracle Enough
I spent this morning among Pentecostal folk. I have never seen a blind man regain sight. I have never seen a cancerous tumor go away untreated. I have never spoken in tongues. When I prayed over the dying, they still…
Reflecting on 30 Days of Gratitude
“Twenty Twenty One hasn’t been so bad,” she said. “It just feels like… Groundhog Day, maybe. Every day is the same. Lots of uncertainty. We are both home pretty much all the time. Going out feels unsafe, but you see…
You.
On the 30th and last day, I’m grateful for you. Yes, you, who is reading this post. A long time ago, I knew a poet. Like, a real poet. She is published these days, and went to school and got…
For slow mornings
On the 29th day, I’m grateful for quiet mornings. The house I grew up in was 1050 square feet – three bedrooms and one bathroom. One tiny bathroom. Mom, Dad, and three sons – I am the oldest. And there…
For second acts.
I’m grateful for second acts. I’ve debated which story to tell to illustrate this concept, but here is one example: I have friends who were pressured as kids to be certain things – their future already set out for them,…
Heather
On the 27th day, I’m grateful for Heather, and the things she taught me. A long time ago, I was a 19-year-old Marine, and I was in love with a fellow Marine named Heather. We were an unlikely pair. She…
For friends from other cultures
On the 26th day, I’m grateful for other cultures, and how they have influenced and shaped me. In the 1830’s, Jonathan Hollowell and his wife Clara and their children Edwin and Calvin moved to Marshall County, Mississippi from around Goldsboro,…