seven years ago, my life changed. i brought home this weird fat little miniature pinscher, not knowing that it was the start of true love. dogs, generally, love me. i guess that’s probably why i love dogs. in my soul, i’m a cat person. but dogs adore me and you can’t just say no to … Continue reading bellissima
there’s a little rowan tree growing in my garden. well, at the moment, it’s sleeping soundly. but last fall, i received a small sapling, grown with love by a twitter friend and gifted to me when i visited his garden. sorbus pseudovilmorinii: a distant relative of our native serviceberry, with lacy fronds for foliage and … Continue reading rowan
living in your own head, in your own body, you should be the expert in your own existence. and yet, the constant upload of norms and mores and values and beliefs blocks all but the most in-depth existential understanding of self. i only ever remember feeling like me. i was called "girl", but that was … Continue reading 01100111 01101001 01110010 01101100 00001010
there are no overt plot spoilers for long way up or any of the earlier programs in this post. in 2008, my kids were ten years old. we lived with limited internet and no television set; all media was consumed on the family desktop computer, on dvds shipped through the USPS from netflix. the kids … Continue reading a long way
to say that winter is not my favorite season is an understatement of farcical proportions. i've used every word combination i know to communicate my loathing of the cold gloaming of winter over the years: the biting winds, the menacing darkness, the hardness and wickedness of it. this has been a difficult year for everyone … Continue reading slumber
a few years ago, i wrote this piece on empty buildings. on a long drive this afternoon, i thought about places that have been empty so long that they crumbled in on themselves and are gone. all that's left is a meandering cairn that used to be a stone wall or the stony bowels of … Continue reading abandoned
the leitmotif of mid-autumn is deception. a heavy dew that looks like hoarfrost but doesn't kill. roadsides littered with heaps of trash that turn out to be apples. animals that scurry in front of your car's tires that are really flocks of brown leaves or, sometimes, vice versa. sound travels oddly. walking from the top … Continue reading lies
i wonder what i thought my life was going to be like. i have tenuous recollections of dreams i cherished. most were of heedless freedom. i was unsettled, ungrown, unprepared when i learned that i was going to be a parent. of all eventualities, that was the least obvious and least longed for. like a … Continue reading nests
with spring cometh the bear. we're supposed to take down our bird feeders by april 1, but have you seen the weather in the northeast this year? it's 30 april and we had an inch of snow last night. i was righteously procrastinating. it's ridiculous how persnickety i get about bringing the feeders in. they're … Continue reading ursus
i know there are people who live in all kinds of climates who are happy to be indoors. i am not one of those people. i hate being indoors. i hate housework. i hate indoor hobbies. unless i'm ill or exhausted, i hate plopping down to watch tv or a movie. it always feels like … Continue reading outside
the gumboot gumshoe 