When you situate yourself in a nexus of relationships–ancestors, community, spirits, nonhumans, and more–your role in the intergenerational gift economy becomes clearer. When this role becomes clearer, your responsibility as both inheritor and steward becomes clearer. Your responsibilities become your sacred task. They are no less tasks for being sacred, but the context matters. There are some responsibilities I have that are not easy. When I settle into the nexus, though, the clarity keeps me going.

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A few small tasks completed on the F150 this week: Sticky tailgate handle just needed some WD-40. Bolts for the tailgate mechanism access panel are marinating in Evaporust. Door panel clips replaced on the passenger side. Door striker replaced on passenger side. I had hoped that replacing the door striker on the driver side would fix the not-fully-shutting problem. It didn’t. Looks like it may be that the door hinge pin and bushing are worn out, making the door sag.

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If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. Many times over the years I have heard that there must be a necessary delineation between spouses. They each must have their own identity, interests, and ways of seeing the world. We are warned that a complete identification would annihilate one’s own self-identity, which is essential for well-being. This is the language of psychological safety. There is no safety in love.

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Garden phlox is always one of the first things to bloom: Bleeding Hearts. This is a plant passed down through three generations of women in my wife’s family: Lilacs are just starting to bloom. In the next day or so there will be enough for me to harvest for syrup. Honeysuckle. This was one of my requests for the garden because I associate it with summer in my childhood. We got this gooseberry three years ago but it never seemed to take off for its first two years in our front yard.

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David Orr, as quoted in “Prophetic Possibilities": The increasing velocity of knowledge is widely accepted as sure evidence of human mastery and progress. But many, if not most, of the ecological, economic, social, and psychological ailments that beset contemporary society can be attributed directly or indirectly to knowledge acquired and applied before we had time to think it through carefully. We rushed into the fossil fuel age only to discover the giant problem of climate destabilization.

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Today I’ll be driving through southwestern Indiana’s coal country and then up to the Terre Haute area to visit St Mother Theodore Guerin. As is my tradition with these trips, I will be listening to old episodes of Weird Studies. Sets the right mood, since these trips are almost always centered on some religious or “weird” place. 8:12am First stop of the day at Camp Olivet. This creek is where I was baptized.

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