Wildwood Blog
Urban Foraging in Amsterdam
Before I moved to Europe the only kind of tea that would pass these lips was iced and sweet. Tea made in my mother's house was brewed and served according to very strict guidelines: There was one small aluminum pot used to make the tea. No other other pot would do and...
Social Media Sabbatical
I was hungry, lonely and tired when I stepped off the train at Convent Station in New Jersey back in 2010. I had just spent the better part of a day driving, parking, checking luggage, flying and chugging to this corner of the Garden State. I still had to drag my...
What does “openly gay” mean to you?
Earlier this week I had a conversation with a cis-gender, straight woman whose opinion I respect, about my ruminations regarding the phrase "openly gay." The moment that sparked this chat was the sharing of an article about one of the football coaches who will be...
The longest night welcomes the light
When I opened my eyes, I was sure it was no later than 5 or 5:30 a.m. The room was still enveloped in a deep darkness and because it was Sunday morning, in late December, the stillness outside was thick and complete. I peered at the nightstand clock and was only...
Wonder-full Wednesday Walks – October
Where ever you find yourself this month, I hope you give yourself the gift of taking a long, sauntering. A walk where you take in the many different shades and tints of orange around you. Which do you like the best? What memories do they hold for you? Is there one...
100 Ideas
Keri Smith is an artist and an author who has greatly influenced my take on a Calmish life. Her work that encourages wandering and wondering, journaling and journeys, is a perfect blend of mindfulness and merriment.Here is a list of 100 ideas that she shared quite...
The False Narrative of Gay vs. Christian
I am still reeling from the fact that there are so-called Christians here in my new homeland who are preaching the false gospel that if you are Christian, you cannot be gay and if you are gay, you are not a Christian. In fact, I was sick to my stomach, outraged on so...
Wonder-full Wednesday Walks in September
Give yourself a long, sauntering walk today through your neighborhood and while you go, consider all the different shapes of the leaves that you see. " Every particular in nature, a leaf, a drop, a crystal, a moment of time is related to the whole, and partakes of the...
Wonder-full Wednesday Walks
Weekly prompts to encourage you to notice your noticing as you wander and wonder. When you take your daily walk, are you tuned in or tuned out? Are you so lost in your earbuds that by the time you get home you can't recall one thing of particular interest you...
An unremarkable life of love
So I’ve been mulling over something about this here queer life for quite some time, as I’m wont to do, and now I feel like sharing my stewing thus far to see what y’all think. All day long, all over the world lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and all manner of non...
Nashville Comes to The Netherlands
My mama, who could fry some of the best damn chicken you ever put in your mouth, never taught me to cook. She taught me a lot of things, but she just couldn't tolerate a constantly questioning kiddo scrambling around her kitchen as she tended to her cast iron skillets...
All Our Hungers
We are in the thick of holiday preparations and parties, many overflowing with savory and sweet meals to fill our hungry bellies. Tonight, after a long but delightful day of work, I came home tired and hungry to find my wife working on an amazing pasta meal. And as I...
Hospitality for the Least of These: Worship Outline
Progressive Christian Community of Leiden Outline of Worship for July 1, 2018 Empathy has no script. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. It’s simply listening, holding space, withholding judgement, emotionally connecting, and communicating that...
Love is Greater than Fear
All the energy and time spent by some "conservative Christians" focusing on "homosexual practice" is antithetical to the life, death and resurrection of the One we call Christ. There are many things Jesus asks of us as Kingdom builders, but sexual policing is not...
13 Ideas For Practicing the Presence of God
All year round, many of us Jesusy types look for ways to be intentional about practicing the presence of God. There are a myriad of books, booklets, websites, podcasts and small groups dedicated to spiritual practices meant to give our wandering minds a compass...
Privilege and purpose in pursuit of a more perfect world
So, rumor has it that Matt Damon is moving to Australia to escape the dangerous insanity that is the United States, and as will happen, some folks on the interwebs are not so gently pointing out that this is the face of white privilege. From the perspective of one who...
18 Hours of Worship with 8 Million People
About five years ago, in the final moments of Ash Wednesday, I found myself propped up against a dingy Greenwich Village bar room wall when I realized I had just experienced a perfect 18-hour liturgy. Preparation It actually all began, as days like this often do, the...
A day in the life of a broad abroad: to Paris and back
At 5 a.m. the alarm interrupted my midwinter dreams and awaken me to the practically perfect day ahead. After tiptoeing through the morning to get ready while not waking my wife, I hopped on my bike to pedal through a still sleeping Leiden. Once my bike was parked in...
My 10-Point Homosexual Agenda
1. To put nothing before The One who is Love. 2. To not worship Mammon, The Constitution, The Bible, culture or technology (sorry Facebook). 3. To only speak God’s name when I am either talking to or about God. Ecstasy counts since it could be argued I am expressing...
Thanksgiving in Ireland
When thinking about what to do for Thanksgiving as a couple of broads living abroad, of course the first thing to come to mind was to hop a plane and head to the Emerald Isle. Thanks to RyanAir’s recent kerfuffle, the tickets were ridiculously cheap, so… After the...
Grilled cheese-off: ooey, gooey, deuxey
In the second week of the grilled cheese competition between Betsy and Kim, we'll see cheers, we'll see tears and someone will win the highest honor, "Winner winner, chicken dinner!" as proclaimed by the right honorable judge, 3 year old Liam. Betsy and Kim began the...
The grilled cheese off – part one: Cheese glorious cheese
Every Saturday morning, after our first cup of coffee, we weave our way over and along the canals of Leiden to the amazing Street Market. Stall after stall offers an amazing array of fresh fruit and veggies (the 1€ bowls of avocados are our favorite), fish, flowers,...
Three months in and we’re lovin’ life!
In one sense, I should be over the moon about the fact that I haven’t written a post in over three months. As I look back over the span of my work, I see vast portions that were fueled by pain, fear and, truth be told, 32 flavors of frustration. Now I find myself in...
Swatting at Seagulls with Hemingway
Experts tell us that there are four stages to culture shock. The Honeymoon, Frustration, Adjustment and Acceptance. Most of this post smacks of the honeymoon stage, though there are some signs of the frustration stage creeping in... My wife and I moved to The...
A lot of moving parts
Content warning: Be careful what you ask for, this post is a doozie! About 12 years before I met Betsy, she stepped off a plane in Florida, jet lagged and hungry after a 12 hour flight from Budapest. She had just returned to the states after teaching abroad for ‘round...
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