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Art Show

February 18, 2014 by Watt Childress 1 Comment

Pick a medium, any medium.
Shuffle it with streamlined themes
and magic random thoughts.
Cut it, quick, whoever you are.

Now hide it from the pros
who’ve done every dream.

[Read More]

Filed Under: Poetry, ULE Tagged With: Feller Kiln, wabi-sabi

Beyond Milk Duds and Fear of Death

October 31, 2013 by Watt Childress 9 Comments

Tradition says this is a time of year when matter and spirit mingle. The boundary between darkness and light becomes sheer now, at the end of harvest.

[Read More]

Filed Under: Culture, Spirit, ULE Tagged With: All Saints' Day, All Souls' Day, Day of the Dead, Halloween, Michael Burgess

Cannon Beach honors the seer of Earthsea

March 30, 2013 by Watt Childress 6 Comments

“Our little house is a wonderful, quiet place to work. Also a very good house for dreams, many people who’ve slept there have told me that. Dreams and the kind of writing I do have some connection. One morning when I was waking up in our Cannon Beach bedroom, the whole idea of one of the “Earthsea” books came to me as the light grew. When I got up, it was daylight and I had a novel to write.” — Ursula K. Le Guin
[Read More]

Filed Under: Art, Books, Featured Images, ULE Tagged With: Ursula K. Le Guin

Valentine for Flipper

February 14, 2013 by Watt Childress 16 Comments

One of the most important cultural centers in the ancient world was founded by a dolphin. According to a Homeric Hymn, the creature jumped aboard a ship sailing from Crete and commanded the mariners to build a sanctuary at Delphi. The animal was said to be a manifestation of the Greek god Apollo. Apollo Delphinios.

[Read More]

Filed Under: Culture, Nature, Spirit, Television, ULE Tagged With: Delphyne, Dephi, dolphin, Flipper, omphalos, sea serpent

Evergreen Testament

December 26, 2012 by Watt Childress 6 Comments

Suddenly I feel like I’m standing on sacred ground. My sense of kinship with the place expands in the company of cedars, some large enough to barely get my arms around. I press my palms against the taut skin of their trunks. I revel in the scent of sprigs picked up from earth their kind have nourished for lifetimes.

[Read More]

Filed Under: Culture, Nature, Spirit, ULE Tagged With: cedar, Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes, Glencoe High School, Lewis Hyde, potlatch

North to Neahseasu

November 18, 2012 by Watt Childress 6 Comments

“The old word is the best,” affirmed Pendragon, in a voice that could have been used to caution visitors about certain secluded coves during the new moon.

A heightened sense of awareness came over me as the talk swirled round the three of us gathered by the Food Mart (which, despite the sign out front, our family insists on calling the “Blue Store”). I felt at one with Nehalem, “place of the people.” [Read More]

Filed Under: Culture, Feature, ULE Tagged With: Neahkahnie, Neahseasu, Nehalem, Tillamook Head

Indian Summer

October 5, 2012 by Watt Childress Leave a Comment

Autumn conjures up hallowed thoughts of education. Scholars conversing under sturdy campus oaks. Visits to libraries late at night, haunted by information.

Yet harvest’s end heralds an older turn from physical to mental labor, one that predates mortarboards and standardized tests. It’s a release of time to reflect on our ways, raid the smokehouse of knowledge, slice into some farm-cured ideas. [Read More]

Filed Under: Culture, Nature, Spirit, ULE Tagged With: Appalachia, Dobyns-Bennett Indians, Kingsport, Long Island of the Holston, Tennessee, Warrior's Path, White Buffalo

One and One

August 12, 2012 by Watt Childress 2 Comments

Counting steps one
is open to chaos.

One ankle is sprained
feeding ducks before work.
Then glasses are squashed
during one lame hunt for
the perfect book to wow
a whitewater scholar.

Filed Under: Poetry, Spirit, ULE, Uncategorized

Yea, no

July 16, 2012 by Watt Childress 5 Comments

After the last big
speech and debate game
more citizens started saying “Yea, no…”

“Yea, no we ate at McDonald’s.”
“Yea, no he hit a deer on the way to work.”
“Yea, no double binds suck but
whatcha gonna do?
[Read More]

Filed Under: Feature, Poetry, Politics, ULE

We are gathered

June 25, 2012 by Watt Childress Leave a Comment

Beloved is the word
we share round
today’s wedding of
reader and poet.

We ring this word
hither and dear
with each waltz
into the microphone.

Filed Under: Poetry, Spirit, ULE, Uncategorized

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More Gleanings

Here Try Some of This Ointment

April 17, 2024 By Watt Childress 4 Comments

We are the Luminaries

August 8, 2023 By Watt Childress 2 Comments

Open Letter for Creation’s Caregivers

June 19, 2023 By Watt Childress 5 Comments

My November 2022 Ballot Choices

November 6, 2022 By Rabbi Bob 1 Comment

One Cup of Tea

November 15, 2020 By Lila Danielle 1 Comment

Additional Wisdom...

Readers’ Comments

  • Watt Childress April 28, 2025 at 11:48 am on Uncle Zech’s Amphibious GestaltAlso, you inspired me to insert a sentence crediting Hoyt Axton with the song's genesis. Many thanks!
  • Watt Childress April 27, 2025 at 10:55 pm on Uncle Zech’s Amphibious GestaltThank you kindly Jim for reading this and commenting. I enjoyed your review of "Sun House" by David James Duncan,
  • Jim Stewart April 27, 2025 at 8:26 pm on Uncle Zech’s Amphibious GestaltNice! Hoyt Axton wrote the Jeremiah song and sang it with great gusto. Life wanders on and I'm still glad
  • Watt Childress April 26, 2025 at 3:51 pm on Uncle Zech’s Amphibious GestaltDuring spring I think of you, and all the May Pole celebrations you've organized over the years. So grateful for
  • Watt Childress April 26, 2025 at 3:18 pm on Uncle Zech’s Amphibious GestaltIn my dreams I sing to the multitudes, with a voice as clear and sweet and churchy as Lou Reed.
More Comments...

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