family – Charles van Heck's Woodhull Journal

05.12.2025

Advent: Aging and the Gift that Matters

The shops were holiday decorated in October. Then the ads flourished like Wild Parsnip. By mid-November, as if exposed to the weed’s sap, I had a severe skin reaction (photodermatitis) that worsened as the month waned. Black Friday. Cyber-Monday. Buy, buy, buy. The business news reports continuously remind us that, according to Forbes, holiday sales

Sometimes You Just Have to Breathe

Fred and Louise Haisch invited us over to dinner. Terri and I decided to walk. The late afternoon sun wove through the overhanging tree branches, weaving an intricate quilt pattern of shadows and light across the dirt road. There was a slight hint of autumn in the air following the long days of oppressive heat

THE FOX AND CHANGE: A FABLE

“Things are going to change around here since they moved in,” Andy Jost said. “You saw him?” Fred Haisch asked. Andy nodded. Fred and Andy are my neighbors. Years ago when I first moved to Evoraburg, they and Andy’s three boys put their backs into assisting me in converting the old schoolhouse into an office.