A Glimpse of Love
We traveled for Thanksgiving, packed our suitcase and our little girl into the car and made the oh-so-very-long drive through the desert to my Grandpa’s house nine hours away. She did well, Katie did, sleeping a good portion of the way, only needing the calming presence of Mom or Dad in the backseat and the … Continue reading "A Glimpse of Love"
Read MoreFocusing on the Finish Line
I’m not usually one for cutesy sayings, for pithy quotes, for warm and fuzzy cliches – in fact, I generally scorn them. Though I often strive for contemplative and beautiful here in this space, my sense of humor tends toward the cynical and the sarcastic. (Case in point: I find this post and its follow-up … Continue reading "Focusing on the Finish Line"
Read MoreFriday Night Dinners: Stories Beget Stories
In recent months, we’ve started a new practice at our home, something we’re calling (originally enough) Friday Night Dinners*. The premise is simple: every Friday night, we extend an open invitation to anyone and everyone we know to come share a meal with us. We provide the main dish, which varies each week, and ask … Continue reading "Friday Night Dinners: Stories Beget Stories"
Read MoreGood Stuff Around the Web
I often stumble across things worth sharing as I meander around the World Wide Web. Here are some posts I’ve appreciated lately: Mourning with those who mourn: Psalm for a Lost Child, by Addie Zierman. Heartbreaking, beautiful, and honest On Sharing the Silent Grief of Miscarriage, by Caleb Wilde. A good reminder. So many … Continue reading "Good Stuff Around the Web"
Read MorePast Sorrows and Present Joys
She caught me in the church parking lot a few weeks back, waved at me as I was unlocking the car door, walked over to say hello. It had been some time since I’d seen her last and she had never met Katie, so she commented on her smile and her amazing infant Mohawk and … Continue reading "Past Sorrows and Present Joys"
Read MoreOn Airplanes and Crying Babies
The plane sat stationary at the gate, all but a few passengers boarded and in their seats. It was an evening flight that came at the end of a long day, and the air was heavy with annoyance, with exhaustion, with the frustration that we still weren’t on our way that so often accompanies travel … Continue reading "On Airplanes and Crying Babies"
Read MoreOn Writing and Gentle Pushes and Being Published
For as long I can remember, I’ve loved the writer’s craft, loved stringing words into sentences and sentences into paragraphs and paragraphs into essays and stories and blog posts. There’s a quiet joy that comes when you’ve found just the right expression, when it all seems to come together and some kind of magic happens, … Continue reading "On Writing and Gentle Pushes and Being Published"
Read MoreOn Wildfires and Cabinet Doors
We live in the forested foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, a vibrantly beautiful area full of towering pines and oaks and cedars. I love where we live; it means access to mountain lakes and shaded walking trails and easy backpacking trips in the summer. It means being able to ski and snowshoe and sled … Continue reading "On Wildfires and Cabinet Doors"
Read MoreKeeping Track
Somewhere around my sixth month of pregnancy, after I took the oh-so-delicious glucose screening test loved by expecting women everywhere, my doctor recommended I be more careful about the number of carbohydrates I consumed. Before going any further, let me state this: I love bread. I love bread, and pasta, and rice, and potatoes. Carbohydrates … Continue reading "Keeping Track"
Read MoreBlackberries
“I love the way the blackberry bushes smell this time of year,” he said to me recently. I, having grown up in the high desert, wasn’t sure what he meant, and so I asked for clarification. He laughed, a short chuckle. “Huh. I don’t know. They smell like ripe blackberries.” * * * * * … Continue reading "Blackberries"
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