Easter

It is still dark, misty-foggy, the velvet sky reminiscent of so many other Florida dawns. Sunrise comes late on the west coast, the day revealing itself slowly.  Beyond the wide-open sliding doors: the dull tide of distant traffic, the sibilant chirrups of birds waking.  For an hour I've been lying in bed, listening to  morning sounds, trying to conjure Easter.

Hope, faith, peace.  Qualities of mind and heart that are all too elusive these days, whether I am scanning the front page of the...