Beyond Little Droplets…(in)RL
In little droplets we give and get. 140 characters or less do their best to articulate the everyday mercy, the wide-eyed wonder, the treasure in the earthen vessel @thismoment. Maybe an instagr.am is like a thousand words; or maybe it’s more like a cave drawing, a...
All in a Day’s Drive
I have choreographed the morning perfectly, checked off every to-do but one. I press the accelerator gently, no hurry, and roll through town with a rare feeling of calm. At the intersection, I am first in line to turn. I wait. The green light goes stale while cars sit...
Gift at Low Tide
Palms waved on Palm Sunday, fronds rattling, applause in the wind. I walked hand-in-hand with my firstborn toward our abandoned umbrella, its fringe fluttering near the shoreline. Bare feet shuffled over sandy cobblestone, felt the grit, the heat. I clicked my tongue...
Gran Via Balcony
In the courtyard, cats are sleeping Limbs stretched in warm channels of terra cotta No tension in dreams Raw experience, no symbols They are agile over arches Fluid between railings of gates and fences Moving on the breeze of instinct Like linen curtains prancing...
Happy Endings
Tonight it’s the same as every night. We finish up the bedtime games, then let loose as a family quartet, the little ones singing so off melody that it becomes an accidental harmony. After bedtime prayer, we head toward the door to leave Elliot alone in the dark....
Mt. Vernon and the Sands of Time: What I Learned in George Washington’s Backyard
Through the hunter green door, life as I knew it ran down the halls into history. Our firstborn squirmed in our arms, determined to put his feet to the wood where Washington once stood, and I’m sure he had plans for the porcelain dishes as well. The take-me-anywhere...
Widows and Wedding China: How to Clean Up a Lonely Mess
Asparagus sizzled in the top oven. I pulled lasagna from the other and looked up. The golden girl waltzed through the door with pep in her step. She came bearing hugs and kisses and cards, and beamed as my boy told her she was “thinking really good” when she got him...The Highlight Reel
I can hear my husband in the background of the highlight reel, chuckling as he cheers on our little sportsman. In the middle of the adult-sized field, our boy lifts his hands up, just sure he’s going to catch the football. It swooshes over his head and bounces behind...
The Chance to Play Unplugged
The bassist leans forward and presses a button on his laptop keyboard to start up some YouTube sensation, two oddballs singing the praises of Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. Across from him, the big kid guitarist whips out his smartphone and tucks it away again, a tick...
I’m Darcy Wiley, co-writer of The Yes Effect: Accepting God’s Invitation to Transform the World Around You. I’m an explorer at heart… Read more