remcmahan

The Gift of Samhain

November 6, 2025 In the Celtic tradition, the last day of October ushers in the season of Samhain which simply means November but holds a great deal of mystery. During the period of October 31 through November 24, the Celts believed the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was thinnest, allowingContinueContinue reading “The Gift of Samhain”

Come August

(Photo credit Turner Matthews) October 5, 2025 Come August Swathed in crimson & emerald, the hummingbirdreturns, again, his delicate, cool tongue sippingthe nectar in preparation for his long journeyahead. With just a turn of his head,his glistening gorget changes from red to blackin the shifting lightbefore he buzzes away, to reappear in a few briefmoments.ContinueContinue reading “Come August”

At the Turning: A Poem

September 26, 2025 At the Turning It is the turning seasonwhen oaks and hickoriesrising skywardflutter leavesgreen and stubbornwhile maples and dogwoodsslip on red, russet, and goldand the last of the hummingbirdssip from the nectarand one by onethe last of the firefliesflit by the half-opened windowand the last of the sunflowersbrilliant and brightfade like starsin aContinueContinue reading “At the Turning: A Poem”

Resistance and Resilience: Offering

September 23, 2025 For the past few months, this blog has been focused on works of creativity as acts of resistance to the powers that be and a means of resilience that remind us we are not alone even as the world turns upside-down and inside-out. This morning’s post will be the last in thisContinueContinue reading “Resistance and Resilience: Offering”

Resistance and Resilience: Hope

Hope, painting by George Frederik Watts, 1886 September 16, 2025 Thank you to all who have contributed and commented on my recent blog series’ ‘”Resistance and Resilience” which has focused on the ways that the creative arts can become instruments of both pushback/reminders as well as invitations to grounding and stillness. Contributions can be foundContinueContinue reading “Resistance and Resilience: Hope”

Resistance and Resilience: Stillness

Photograph (c) Lois Justrabo “Be still and know that I am God.” (Ps. 46:10) In these tense months since Donald Trump became President and his administration began shredding the Constitution, I have walked a constant tightrope between despair and hope. In trying to maintain that impossible stance, I’ve come to realize that now, more thanContinueContinue reading “Resistance and Resilience: Stillness”

Resistance and Resilience: Birds

Photo credit (c) Turner Matthews August 3, 2025 “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Matthew 6:26 Since the beginning of time, humans have turned to nature to find silence, centering, rejuvenation,ContinueContinue reading “Resistance and Resilience: Birds”

Resistance and Resilience: I’m Sorry, too

July 28, 2025 I recently came across a Facebook site and web page called “We Choose Welcome” https://www.wechoosewelcome.com/. This group created itself in the face of hostilities and draconian procedures being carried out by the Trump Administration in relation to our immigration situation. Today, a poem was posted that moved me to tears because ofContinueContinue reading “Resistance and Resilience: I’m Sorry, too”

Resistance and Resilience: Photography

Botanical Garden Iris (c) Ellen Hudson July 25, 2025 As of this particular date, July 25, 2025, 47,000 people per month are being deported by the Trump Administration (re: Rep. Dale Strong/Alabama)while 1,000 are caged in Alligator Alcatraz, an inhumane concentration camp in the swamplands of Florida. So much for due process. Our own presidentContinueContinue reading “Resistance and Resilience: Photography”

Resistance and Resilience: Words

July 14, 2025 Recently, a follower of this blog sent me an essay written by Phyllis Cole-Dai (The Raft on Substack) who wrote: “According to The New York Times, the current US administration has now restricted or outright banned the use of hundreds of words and phrases in government documents ranging from agency memos toContinueContinue reading “Resistance and Resilience: Words”