Cottage On Turner

6Dear Friends, Did you notice a change of pace over these last three months? (Was your pace actually altered?) Michigan’s decisive (if not altogether precise) four seasons offers a somewhat forceful change in habit or shake up from routine every few months. At the Cottage, the increased sunlight offered a bounty of heirloom tomatoes out of the side yard, beautiful dahlias off the front porch, and increased energy to tackle tasks and plan for more. We celebrated the summer season the last week...

Dear Friends, It's August, and I'm still thinking about America250 over here. One of the freedoms outlined in the Bill of Rights (adopted to the US Constitution in 1791), in particular: That Congress shall make no law against a peaceable assembly of citizens. One of America’s superpowers is the right to assemble. We often think about that in political terms (I’m sadly thinking of riots; but rebellion against real oppression can bring forth goodness, too, I think). Assembly can also be more...

Dear Friends, Well, it’s July and we’re heading into the America250 weekend. It has me thinking about the nation’s founding and the yearning of the human heart. The United States of America was founded on a promise and as citizens, not subjects, it is our duty to lean into those promises. I’m reading Jeff Shaara’s This Glorious Cause currently and it is reminding me of the struggle and sacrifice of ordinary people being called to an extraordinary mission. What is it? Can I do it? Should I...