I have been learning, this month, to make sourdough bread. Perhaps you’ve eaten it. I doubt, though, you know what it takes to bake it; I, at least, did not. It was all supposed to be a jolly jaunt into a new region of cookery—a little reading, a little experimenting—and then, in short order, that […]
Wild Yeast, the Wisdom of Bakers, and the Kitchen as Classical Classroom Read More »
December twenty-eighth is, in the liturgy of the church, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, the day of remembrance for the multitude of children—“all that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under”—who were slaughtered by King Herod as he sought to squelch the rumored threat of a
Three weeks of another year’s Advent are past; the one that’s left is just a few days long—Christmas Day itself peeks ‘round the corner. The three weeks behind me have already been framed and filled and formed by a dozen dear traditions, from sacred to silly; the few days ahead hold the most cherished, even
From Thanksgiving through to Christmas, our tables boast their finest display of the year. Turkeys roasted and basted to a gilt sheen, tenderloins encased in crusty herbs, rib roasts and crown roasts with their buttresses of bone; humble potatoes, green beans, carrots, squash transfigured with spices and sauces; crumby cakes mounded in velvety frostings, pie
“As Grandmother’s biographer, I’d have to guess she was never really happy after, say, her thirty-seventh year, the last year when she lived an idyll in Boise Canyon.” “But she lived a long time after that,” Ellen said. “She lived to be ninety-one.” “But she wasn’t happy.” “She wasn’t unhappy, either. Do you have to
Angle of Repose: Wallace Stegner, Thomas Aquinas, and the Dimensions of Happiness Read More »
Driving home from school one day, I passed a sight that smacked of Flannery O’Connor. In the drab parking lot of a storefront church was pitched a small white tent; within the tent sat a bearded man in a lawn chair; and beside the man was propped a sign that read “Need Prayer?” Save for
“If a human being were a machine . . . the work of the educator would be simply to adopt a good working system or set of systems. But the educator has to deal with a self-acting, self-developing being, and his business is to guide, and assist in, the production of the latent good in
“Every Capacity for Good”: Advice from Charlotte Mason for Planning A New School Year Read More »
“How to help your students fall in love with classical education” is a common theme of the classical renewal’s spokesmen. “How to help them once they do” is a more rare, yet equally pressing, issue. Consider: students who fall in love with the classical tradition inherit a wealth of wisdom, knowledge, beauty, and virtue; yet,
I have scruples against calling myself a Writer, capitalized, but I echo Augustine in “profess[ing] to be one of those who, by profiting, write, and by writing profit.” Never especially disciplined or consistent in my writing efforts, never attempting any grand projects, yet over the years I have accumulated piles of notebooks, loose papers, and
The English language is a minefield of buried metaphors. Take “buried metaphor,” for instance. Standard dictionary definitions treat the phrase as an abstract term, defining “buried metaphor” as a word or phrase that, though originally intended as a figure of speech, has been used so frequently that it now represents a specific concept without the
Not only does classic literature provide wisdom for life and virtue, but it also yields all the advice needed to plan the perfect vacation, as exemplifed in the following cursory survey. If you don’t want surprise company upon your return, be sure to lock the doors and close up tight when you leave home. (Kenneth
Planning the Perfect Vacation: Advice from the Classics Read More »
To begin, twenty theses on lawn mowing. Lawn-mowing is a primary way to show respect and care for one’s neighbors, for the landscape of your yard is the view from their windows. Being a good steward of the home God has entrusted one requires he mow his lawn, for that keeps it tidy and healthy.
