Earlier this month, I went back to New England for my Aunt Mary’s funeral. This was sad, beautiful, heart-warming, and difficult. The best part, besides seeing so many people I’m related to and don’t get to spend enough time with, was staying with my cousin Michael for two days in his house full of art. […]
Yesterday, I was feeling pretty punk. There are many good reasons, none of which I will bore you with here. Ordinary stuff that on other days wouldn’t have made me think twice had gathered together and weighed me down. Luckily I had an appointment with my life coach, Nancy. She said to me the same […]
Once upon a time, in 1999, I bought a house. My first house. An uninhabitable house. This is a long story, so I’m going to leave lots of it out. Not just one house: an acre of land with two houses on it, both uninhabitable, and a small studio off the back deck, 10 x […]
I’ve written elsewhere about my first trip to see the migrating tundra swans, so I won’t tell you the story all over again. But know that every year I like to zip down to Marysville, CA at least once and witness the glory of many many many birds in one place. It satisfies my need […]
When you’re a writer, people always ask when you began writing. The answer is often, “Oh, when I was eight,” or “I’ve been writing all my life.” I didn’t write until I was 35. When I was eight, I was drawing floor plans for log cabins in the wilderness, and trying to listen carefully when […]
Last year, right around this time, county road crews were finishing up some extensive and dramatic widening of the street in front of my house. I’ve written elsewhere about different ways that I made my peace with the project and managed to stay as emotionally steady as possible during the construction. I stopped saying much […]
If you’re a poet, you already know how to write a poem. There are about two thousand methods, and you’ve been using at least five of them. There’s the wake-up-at-3-a.m. method, when either a poem pulls you right out of bed or some bodily function wakes you and then the poem attacks. There’s the pull-over-into-the-next-gas […]
This weekend I accidentally ran into the news on-line that Pippa Middleton had married. I haven’t been following Pippa, but I know who she is: Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge’s younger sister, the one who got famous at Kate’s wedding to Prince William because of the way her dress showed off her bottom. Perhaps you […]
I’d like to remind you that the very best time to sneak into your friends’ houses and take photographs is when they are out of town. It’s also helpful when their house-sitter is a friend and will both let you in and tidy up a bit, so laptops, nightgowns, and stray wine glasses from the […]
About a month ago there was a big demonstration, which you may have heard of or attended. The Women’s March was originally focused on Washington, D.C. in defense of women’s rights, human rights, and press freedom, the day after our 45th President’s inauguration. In the end, protest rallies were held in over 30 countries around […]