I felt like Napoleon, who after escaping from his first exile on the tiny island of Elba in the Mediterranean, briefly regained power as Emperor of France for 100 days. The regiment of troops that had been sent to intercept him merely shouted, “Vive L’Empereur!” and marched with him to Paris. This was my first … More My Napoleonic Return to the Economy
With lengthening evenings and more activity moving indoors, it is a good time to ponder home life. Your home should be delighted in. It should not be shrouded in shame, secrecy, or be something you are eager to abandon. When the home is functioning properly, family and life flow out abundantly to the exterior world. … More Home Fires Burning
OUCH!!!!! I smashed my thumb a second time with the business end of a hammer. This was followed by an egregious mistake while cutting an outlet opening into a 12-foot-long tongue and groove board while plugging away at finishing out my wife’s new art studio. It took these bone-headed confrontations with an impenetrable wall of … More Foolish Impracticality is the light at the end of the tunnel.
My wife and I have a lot of conversations about my clothes. I have to agree that I have far too many. If she really loved me she would make a quilt out of my t-shirts. That would really put a dent into the problem of my overflowing dresser and closet! Being a child of a … More Child of hoarder evolving at a glacial pace toward minimalism
This is a love story. Not romantic love, but that which is forged through fire and abuse that was endured. Today I spoke with the abused child referenced in the first chapter of my book: https://eddygilmore.com/about-my-book/chapter-1-lost-among-the-piles/ Though I hadn’t spoken with her in more than a quarter-century, we immediately connected over the phone. There was no … More Shame Be Damned!
This is my newly stacked cache of firewood, illuminated by the light of the morning after: All of the wood used to heat my small writer’s “shack” is hand-cut. Most of it is junk wood that is eschewed by everybody else. Following walks with the dog, I often arrive home dragging a branch that previously … More Combustion
Here I am working at the same small table with my wife. Normally I’m out in my small writer’s “shack,” but about once per week I delight in sharing the same small space with Shawna. I love seeing her paintings in various stages of evolution. A shared pot of tea rounds out the experience perfectly. Enjoying silence … More Thankful for Simple Pleasures
It was a busy time of life with graduate school and worries over money. While tending our landlord’s garden I found myself fully prostrate, spread out on the ground and pruning a rhododendron bush. What followed was a spiritual experience that was ethereal in nature, and yet firmly rooted in the solid terra firm of … More Experiencing the Sublime in 24 Inches of Dirt
There is no place I’d rather die than in Duluth, Minnesota. Likewise, there’s no place I’d rather reinvent the notion of vocation. This is the land upon which I choose to live, and to live abundantly. For 12 long toilsome years I found myself latched on, clutching to a gigantic and seemingly life-sustaining corporate teat. … More It’s Time To Secede
I’m writing this after arising from a nightmare this morning. For the first time ever one of my children had entered with me into the living nightmare that marked a portion of my childhood. We were eating dinner with the family of my former babysitter, sitting across from one another at the table in their house. … More The Face of Child Abuse
Ed's Big Adventure 