Spring Equinox – Jeanette Winterson: Mind Over Matter This whole essay is beautiful, but I love the concept of borrowing free energy. I am a big believer in using free energy - whether it’s the energy generated round religious holidays, like Christmas time, or the energy we can feel from the changing of the seasons. Every day is not the same. Our personal energy levels are not the same every day - we all know that.

Spring Equinox – Jeanette Winterson: Mind Over Matter

This whole essay is beautiful, but I love the concept of borrowing free energy. I am a big believer in using free energy - whether it’s the energy generated round religious holidays, like Christmas time, or the energy we can feel from the…

Native Plants and Depoliticizing the Wildlife Garden – Humane Gardener We can’t take care of the planet in the long term unless we take care of each other now. And we can’t take care of each other in the long term unless we take care of the planet now. I believe in human rights, and I welcome the other citizens of this earth with open arms. I believe in the rights of our fellow species to make a home here, too, and I welcome them with the plants they need to survive. It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that. Source: Native Plants and Depoliticizing the Wildlife Garden - Humane Gardener

Native Plants and Depoliticizing the Wildlife Garden – Humane Gardener

We can’t take care of the planet in the long term unless we take care of each other now. And we can’t take care of each other in the long term unless we take care of the planet now. I believe in human rights, and I welcome the…

Watching the clouds When I was a little boy, both of my parents worked a lot, and I spent a lot of time at my neighbor’s house. They were retired farmers, and as my surviving grandfather lived far away, they filled that role in my life. They were very much a product of their time. They didn’t follow daylight saving time, or government time, as they called it, and they didn’t have air conditioning, although I think that was mostly on him, because after he died, she installed a window unit in the room she spent the most time in.

Watching the clouds

When I was a little boy, both of my parents worked a lot, and I spent a lot of time at my neighbor’s house. They were retired farmers, and as my surviving grandfather lived far away, they filled that role in my life. They were very much a product of their time. They didn’t…

Mike’s Bible Today is Mike's birthday. Facebook reminded me this morning, which felt like a punch in the gut. So, I thought it was fitting to tell you about Mike's Bible. The Bible itself is nothing to look at. If you were looking for a generic idea of what a Bible should look like, it would look like this one. It’s black leather, with gilt edges and a black ribbon to mark your place, and in gold script in the lower right-hand corner, it has Mike's name embossed.

Mike’s Bible

Today is Mike's birthday. Facebook reminded me this morning, which felt like a punch in the gut. So, I thought it was fitting to tell you about Mike's Bible. The Bible itself is nothing to look at. If you were looking for a generic idea of what a Bible should look like, it would look…

The Bar It was pouring rain outside, but inside the bar, it was warm and dry. It was also dark, and the task lighting here and there behind the bar made pools that illuminated the area around them. The murmur of conversation played off the piped-in piano jazz, and the overall effect was that you were lucky to be alive while such a place existed.

The Bar

It was pouring rain outside, but inside the bar, it was warm and dry. It was also dark, and the task lighting here and there behind the bar made pools that illuminated the area around them. The murmur of conversation played off the piped-in piano jazz, and the overall effect was that you…

Anti-Ableism | Ask Hugh Anything I intend to answer a question from the readers of this blog each week (you can read more about this here). This week's question comes from Karen. So many otherwise progressive people I encounter, especially in faith spaces, have not really examined their own ableism. You are a rare progressive who is on an anti-ableist journey. I'm curious how that happened to you.

Anti-Ableism | Ask Hugh Anything

I intend to answer a question from the readers of this blog each week (you can read more about this here). This week's question comes from Karen. So many otherwise progressive people I encounter, especially in faith spaces, have not really examined their own…

The Love List- part 2 In summer of 2024, I made a list of 100 things I love. Here is another 50. That sharp bite in the back of your throat from horseradish. The first sip of a Diet Coke from McDonalds. Browsing a bookstore on a rainy afternoon. The smell of a freshly plowed field. Muscadine jelly on a buttered biscuit. Wandering the produce section at the Asian market.

The Love List- part 2

In summer of 2024, I made a list of 100 things I love. Here is another 50. That sharp bite in the back of your throat from horseradish. The first sip of a Diet Coke from McDonalds. Browsing a bookstore on a rainy afternoon. The smell of a freshly plowed field. Muscadine jelly…

Ask Hugh anything (aha!) Hi friends. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been updating my blog each weeknight for a couple of weeks now. I like daily blogging—it’s generative for me. It makes me practice writing, even when I’m not working on a specific writing project, like the next book. It’s like off—season training. Keeps me in shape. But in a way, blogging daily without a unifying project to order it is harder.

Ask Hugh anything (aha!)

Hi friends. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been updating my blog each weeknight for a couple of weeks now. I like daily blogging—it’s generative for me. It makes me practice writing, even when I’m not working on a specific writing project, like the next book.…

Why I stay CW: Some mentions of sexual assault and spiritual abuse, but nothing graphic. When Dan was a boy, he idolized his grandfather: they were inseparable. Dan’s grandfather was a minister, and the way Dan described it to me,the grandfather was revered in their small town. He moved with integrity, his word was his bond, and he embodied manhood to Dan, and to many others in their town.

Why I stay

CW: Some mentions of sexual assault and spiritual abuse, but nothing graphic. When Dan was a boy, he idolized his grandfather: they were inseparable. Dan’s grandfather was a minister, and the way Dan described it to me,the grandfather was revered in their small town. He moved with…

The one about hope. I've been in a position several times recently where I have been asked what I do. To which I replied, "Do about what, exactly?," which I think is funny and they never do. It turns out, when people asked that, they mean, "What is your occupation?", and I don't have a good answer for that. The closest I come these days is "storyteller", which is somehow both true and not helpful, either to them understanding what I do, or to my getting paid work that uses my skills.

The one about hope.

I've been in a position several times recently where I have been asked what I do. To which I replied, "Do about what, exactly?," which I think is funny and they never do. It turns out, when people asked that, they mean, "What is your occupation?", and I don't have a good answer…

Unfinished Business I don't know how he found me. But that's true of so many people who read things I write—I write things, and some of them connect. It's a partnership between me and the reader. I supply the words, and y'all supply the meaning. He lived in Raleigh when I did, and so maybe he had sat in a church service where I preached, or maybe he was attracted to the work that happened at the nonprofit I ran there, or perhaps he just stumbled across me on Facebook because of something I wrote, and somebody else shared.

Unfinished Business

I don't know how he found me. But that's true of so many people who read things I write—I write things, and some of them connect. It's a partnership between me and the reader. I supply the words, and y'all supply the meaning. He lived in Raleigh when I did, and so maybe he had…

Being a regular When I first moved to Raleigh some twenty years ago now, I was living in a tiny room in a rooming house, and I needed a place to write. On the third day, I wandered into The Morning Times, a coffee shop downtown, and the barista asked my name. The next day when I came back, she used my name to greet me when I came in the door.

Being a regular

When I first moved to Raleigh some twenty years ago now, I was living in a tiny room in a rooming house, and I needed a place to write. On the third day, I wandered into The Morning Times, a coffee shop downtown, and the barista asked my name. The next day when I came back, she…

Considering the circumstances We live in perilous times. I'm sure that has always been true, for somebody. It's after all, why apocalyptic literature always has an audience: it's always the end of the world for someone. But here in the US, things seem particularly fragile. Rights we assumed were etched in stone have been seen as ephemeral. Elected leaders have made room for White Supremacy and Christian Nationalism to go unchecked, even as they pour fuel on the fires.

Considering the circumstances

We live in perilous times. I'm sure that has always been true, for somebody. It's after all, why apocalyptic literature always has an audience: it's always the end of the world for someone. But here in the US, things seem particularly fragile. Rights we assumed were…

The US seems to be unable to give its citizens healthcare, when other major countries can, and unable to arrest people on the Epstein list, when other major countries can.

I hate to say it, but maybe we are just not good at stuff.

“What was heart-breaking was to discover that people you loved — friends, relatives, neighbors — whom you assumed were civilized, harbored the most vicious feelings.” - Harper Lee, in a letter to a friend.

Flour. Milk. Shortening. Simple cheap ingredients that, once mixed together with intention and love, made something magical. I had eaten a biscuit made by the hands of someone who loved me, and thus I knew the truth." - Hugh Hollowell, Food Is Love
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"In later years I would, in an old book found in the school library, learn about alchemy - the pseudo-science that claims base ingredients could, through magic and intention, become valuable. It was dismissed by the author of that book as ludicrous, but I didn't have to be convinced.
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Don't be fooled. Food is always political. Always. Being able to feed yourself and your family means being able to determine your future. It gives you agency and power. As fellow Mississippian Fannie Lou Hamer once said, “When you've got 400 quarts of greens and gumbo soup canned for the winter, nobody can push you around or tell you what to say or do." The oligarchs learned long ago that hungry people don't fight back. The health, energy, rejuvenation, and even joy that comes from simple food, prepared well, can give downtrodden people enough margin in their lives to keep going and sometimes inch forward, even when everything around them seems to conspire against them.

Food is always political. Always.

Six days, in fact. *shrug*

Got like 30 new followers in the last hour, after not posting anything for 3 days.

Now I feel all sort of pressure to perform.

I wrote a book on a subject I love to talk about - food and it's connection to the people who love us - and then I published it, because I wanted to learn how to do that.

I'm proud of me, and I also wish I had done this 20 years ago.

"The world is really held together by the love and passion of very few people." - James Baldwin

Based on early reports from my inbox, it would seem that they are circling back, y'all.

I have full confidence that somewhere, Democratic leaders are composing a sternly worded letter.

Me say war NB: Each week I'm posting something from the archives of my more than 20 years of writing on the web. Sometimes it's a social media post, sometimes a blog post, or (like today) it's an excerpt from a newsletter issue published in 2019. Each entry gets updated with some modern context or point of view. - HH Back in 1992, Sinead O'Connor caused a sensation when, on Saturday Night Live, she tore up a picture of the Pope in protest of clergy sexual abuse.

Me say war

NB: Each week I'm posting something from the archives of my more than 20 years of writing on the web. Sometimes it's a social media post, sometimes a blog post, or (like today) it's an excerpt from a newsletter issue published in 2019. Each entry gets updated with some modern context or…

Being a control freak and bad at things is tough

Hi there! I haven't been ignoring you for the last six months, but Mississippi passed a law back in the summer that caused bluesky to block Mississippians. ☹️

But now we're not.

*Waves*

Punk Damage A thing I love is when I learn about a word or phrase that gives language to a thing I have known, but did not have words for. Like the first time I learned about harm reduction, which is a specific theory of social work that says that in order for people to make good decisions, they must first be alive so let's focus on keeping them alive to buy them time to make good decisions.

Punk Damage

A thing I love is when I learn about a word or phrase that gives language to a thing I have known, but did not have words for. Like the first time I learned about harm reduction, which is a specific theory of social work that says that in order for people to make good decisions, they…

Long slow suppers Hi there. Each week I will post an excerpt of one of the thousands of things I've written in the last 25 years, and then follow it up with some modern context or point of view. Today's piece from the archives was from my newsletter, and was written in summer of 2019. Enjoy! - HH One consequence to the amazing sort of life I have had the good fortune to lead is that I know, and have gotten to work with, a lot of all different sorts of people who live all over the world.

Long slow suppers

Hi there. Each week I will post an excerpt of one of the thousands of things I've written in the last 25 years, and then follow it up with some modern context or point of view. Today's piece from the archives was from my newsletter, and was written in summer of 2019. Enjoy! - HH…

Living off the rage The restaurant was quiet, despite its being the lunch hour. The rain came down outside, no doubt part of the reason for the low turnout. We hadn't seen each other for a while and were catching up in that meandering, slow way friends do. Here is what her son did, and here are the pictures. Here are pictures of our cats, and did you hear about so and so?

Living off the rage

The restaurant was quiet, despite its being the lunch hour. The rain came down outside, no doubt part of the reason for the low turnout. We hadn't seen each other for a while and were catching up in that meandering, slow way friends do. Here is what her son did, and here are…