Retreat

In the midst of all my after-Christmas cleaning, while I’m wiping out the cupboards and using up the leftovers in the fridge, I buy a bird cage. I don’t own a bird. I don’t have plans to acquire a bird. In fact, I’ve been on a simplify-my-life kick for a while now, and I think long and hard about the purchases I make. I am not in the habit of buying useless birdcages, that’s for sure. It’s been a puzzle. I’ve looked at that cage, sitting there on my bookshelf among the photographs of my children and the prayer book…