03.11.08 BREAD OF LIFE

My son, Jasper, is 19 and wondering which way to go next in his life. Last night when we came home we found him in the kitchen preparing to bake challah. We had no idea where this inspiration came from, but definitely encouraged it. He had never baked bread before in his life! Using some of the eggs from our chickens in the garden and with some in depth instruction on kneading from his mother he set to work. When we woke this morning the house was filled with the wonderful aroma of baking bread. We came downstairs to find these two beautiful loaves and a sleeping son. I left him this note and a kiss upon his head.

02.28.08 REDUNDANT REMINDER

The US Postal Service current postmark:

"LET US DARE TO READ, THINK, SPEAK, AND WRITE." John Adams

Perhaps a crack in the stoney face of what has been a monolithic policy of the US Government that fear justifies extreme measures denying Americans these freedoms. Let us not be afraid to be citizens, to speak our minds, and to find the path ahead through civil debate.

02.26.08 EVIDENT HOPE

Encouraged by these spontaneous creations of young people, I join the campaign to bring a hopeful political change to America.

01.05.08 ETERNAL BAGHDAD

From a poem by Ibn al-Utri on the destruction of Baghdad in the early ninth century. Recited by bookseller Naim al-Satri on September 14, 2007 as a curfew was lifted on Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad, six months after a car bombing that devastated Iraq's historic book market.

Hand set in Lydian types and printed on Pescia by Bonnie Bernstein at Woods Creek Press. Woodcut by Leigh Ann Beavers.

With thanks to New York Times reporter Damien Cave, Washington and Lee University Art Department, and the Virginia Arts of the Book Center.