Real Life

It always feels a bit humbling when I what I think I know—know intellectually that is—turns out to be only a fraction of reality, reminding me that knowing something and experiencing it are two different things. Our yard is my most recent example. Three years ago,...

A Tribute

In this bittersweet season of colorful leaves, dying and letting go, I am moved to tell you a little story. My childhood home on Grey Cloud Island was in the country, on an acre-and-a-half lot. There were many trees on the property—in high school I did a biology...

A Slippage in Time

Have you ever been two people at once—two people in one place in two different times simultaneously? Not just in your mind, but in your body? Once this happened to me. January 2010, Kona, Hawaii. I remember the soft bluish green tide pool extending around and below...

Getting the Mail, April 4 in Minnesota

Steel blue door, sealed to cozy us mammals within opens with a deep sigh—SWOOSH— a startle of cold, a brilliant white shout,  singing in the sun amid patchy dirt and bedraggled stalks—the fist crocus! Grinning, chest suddenly warm with fluttering, I make my way down...

Jumble

Are all summers a jumble, or is this one particularly so? A jumble of activities and experiences, a jumble of emotions—even the weather has been a bit of a jumble.  One of my delights this month is finally returning to swimming after a 5 month hiatus. The peaceful...

A Mystery of Childhood Mementos

I wish I’d remembered to take a photo of my childhood jewelry box. When I was about 8 I wanted one with a ballet dancer who twirled en pointe when you opened the box—all the rage at the time. Instead, my parents gave me one painted with French poodles sitting at a...