Good Thoughts for Weary Minds
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Mj Pettengill
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...may this food provide strength and energy for our tired limbs and good thoughts for our weary minds...
Mj Pettengill
- Nov 11, 2021
- 4 min
Veterans Day: A Thousand Letters from Home
They weren’t long letters, just brief newsy accounts from the home front. It was about that lifeline, that classic archetype of mother...
Mj Pettengill
- Oct 26, 2021
- 8 min
The Joys of Brotherhood: Saying Goodbye
We were so proud to be Americans. We had an idea of who we were. We had each others’ backs.
Mj Pettengill
- Oct 23, 2021
- 5 min
Marya: Over the River and Through the Wood
We will find each other again and again, suspended between the wildness of Heaven and Earth...
Mj Pettengill
- Oct 16, 2021
- 5 min
When I Am Laid in Earth
The primary source of collective and individual trauma related to the County Farm is rooted in profound unawareness.
Mj Pettengill
- Oct 3, 2021
- 3 min
Going Once! Going Twice! Auctioning the Poor
Unlike the traditional auction, the pauper was sold to the lowest bidder.
Mj Pettengill
- Sep 30, 2021
- 5 min
Grateful to Be In It
I had never played for such a vast and diverse audience—on both sides of the fence—it mattered not that they were, in fact, dead.
Mj Pettengill
- Sep 26, 2021
- 2 min
We Are Each Other's Light
It is unnecessary to wait for what we perceive as the perfect opportunity or the right conditions.
Mj Pettengill
- Sep 5, 2021
- 3 min
Where the River Leads
We tend to go with the flow but have no idea where the river leads.
Mj Pettengill
- Aug 27, 2021
- 3 min
The Farmer and the Farmer's Wife
An egg about to crack open becomes a favorite moment.
Mj Pettengill
- Aug 20, 2021
- 3 min
From the Author's Pen: Know When You Are Called Upon
Imagine sitting in the middle of a field of anonymous graves with nothing to go on but intuition.
Mj Pettengill
- Aug 16, 2021
- 2 min
From the Author's Pen: Be the Tree
The trees help old souls reach out to me, begging for their stories to be told. Until that time, it is they who need consoling.
Mj Pettengill
- Jul 28, 2021
- 3 min
When They Hauled Folks Away: From the Author's Pen
I stood and watched until Death’s cart was out of sight. I was not afraid. I could not say what I felt, but it was not fear.
Mj Pettengill
- Jul 14, 2021
- 2 min
As I Began to Love Myself
"As I Began to Love Myself"
—Poem by Kim and Alison McMillen
(Falsely attributed to Charlie Chaplin)
Mj Pettengill
- Jul 9, 2021
- 2 min
Marya of the Wood: The Hermit Thrush Calls My Name
We need not vanish in pale shadows, alienated from our essence. To be silenced, overlooked, or crushed leads to an uncertain death.
Mj Pettengill
- Jul 3, 2021
- 3 min
From the Author's Pen: The Fourth of July at the Poor Farm
What did it mean to win or lose?
Mj Pettengill
- Jun 7, 2021
- 7 min
Remember Me, But Forget My Fate
I am a historical whistleblower. It's what I do...
Mj Pettengill
- May 30, 2021
- 2 min
The Last Time Playing Taps
I played as a daughter—your daughter. This was no ordinary gig.
Mj Pettengill
- May 28, 2021
- 3 min
Three Rivers—Nellie’s Solemn Vow
Each time I cried for her, the river took me back in her rage. I fought White River until I could fight no more.
Mj Pettengill
- May 26, 2021
- 3 min
It Was the Good Too
Apparently, it isn’t who or what you worship, or where and why. It is about somethin’ much bigger than us, and we’re in it together.
Down from the Tree - Book Three
Samuel J. Hodgdon II
A Boy ~ A Vision ~ A Knowing Tree
The Journey Continues
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