When “Public Service” Gets Crushed

January 9, 2021.Reading time 9 minutes.

Everybody is haunted by the images of this week.The Nazi shirts…the Confederate flag…the man with zip ties in military gear…the wild-eyed looks of these insurrectionists. But I’ve been deeply stirred by two images.One, of this Capitol police officer being crushed.The other, of Representative Andy Kim cleaning up the trash. I know that this is a […]

Choose wisely

January 7, 2021.Reading time 2 minutes.

If you are a Trump supporter who condemns yesterday’s insurrection against the United States, if you believe yourself to be a Christian or a decent person, today is a day to forever take down your Trump flags and put away your MAGA hats. Whatever you believe these symbols mean, or *want* them to mean, they […]

As We Go On

January 2, 2021.Reading time 2 minutes.

As We Go OnWords and Music: Eric Folkerth the turning of the yearthe turning of a pagelisten and you’ll hearall this restlessness and ragesadness in our eyeshearts still in griefwe say our goodbyeto the Orange-headed thief… as we go on…we go on…we go on…we go on… so nurse up your achesbut listen to that rageand […]

Coffee on the Porch: 12/22/20

December 22, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Conversation:We talk about “Love” and how our pandemic Christmas will be different. Eric unpacks the classic song “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” as the perfect song of this season.Featured Songs:“Love is There,” by Grace Pettis.”O Little Town of Bethlehem,” by Phillips Brooks & Lewis Redner.”Silent Night,” by Joseph Mohr & Franz Gruber.”Have Yourself A […]

Coffee On the Porch: 12/15/20

December 15, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

See Like a Hawk

December 11, 2020.Reading time 4 minutes.

We’ve had a small, juvenile hawk hanging around the house the past few weeks. It might explain the sudden disappearance of rats on our late-night security cameras. (That might also be due to the neighborhood cat that apparently likes to sleep on our front porch rocking chairs…) I snapped this picture of him/her this morning. […]

Music News: August 2020

August 6, 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

Hi Friends,It’s been quite a while since I’ve written a music update. In this time of pandemic, there’s not a lot of live music happening out there. A few reminders of things I’m doing in the online world, to help keep us connected in this unusual time. New Website! First, my music website has a […]

Juneteenth and the “Power of Power”

June 19, 2020.Reading time 15 minutes.

Two thousand Federal troops. I keep coming back to that number. That’s the number of Union soldiers that accompanied General Gordon Granger into Galveston on the day Juneteenth was proclaimed in 1865. We White people barely understand Juneteenth to begin with, and what we do understand is often whitewashed. Yes, General Granger read that proclamation […]

$20 Bill (For George Floyd)

June 9, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

On this day of George Floyd’s memorial service in Houston, a repost of my version of Tom Prasada-Rao’s powerful tribute song. Tom’s song has now been covered 20-30 times by a beautiful assortment of musicians. This version was a part of my “Coffee On the Porch” Livestream on June 4th, 2020. (Lyrics below. Thanks again […]

Yes to Lake Cliff. No to Margaret Hunt Hill

June 8, 2020.Reading time 11 minutes.

“Yes to Lake Cliff Park. No to the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.” I offer this as a metaphor for what we need in Dallas from our police. This week, the serious conversation on needed police reform will continue. It’s an ongoing conversation, in case you are not aware. All kudos to our friends at “Mother’s […]