We sing Happy Birthday to the dog. I tease my daughter’s hair for an 80’s dance, teach her the fine art of a French cuff. I catch myself humming Conjunction Junction while folding the whites. We bake Homer Price cookies, double the batch. Our youngest exchanges her first baby tooth for a rubber ball. I send in the manuscript for my children’s book. We meet friends for mass on a frozen Sunday, sourdough pancakes to follow. I try (badly) to crochet a dishcloth. We recite Teasdale. I fly to Minneapolis to visit a friend, drink hot coffee in bed, weave through a sea of riverfront snow sculptures depicting waters I’ve not yet swam.
Blog
Home + Rest
We Heard the Bells
Our first big snow arrived over the weekend, all gusts and billows, and our dear town was nearly plummeted in the best of ways. The neighborhood children scattered into yards front and back, wrapped in pom pom hats and last season’s too-small snow pants. Red-cheeked and breathless, they set out producing all manner of festive
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Family + Kids
Currently
I stock the pantry with beans, set bowlfuls aside for creative bounty. We dip maples and oaks and sycamores into a melted-down pool of last winter’s candles, string a garland for the mantel. I launder the flannel sheets, ready the spiced cider pouches. We intend to write down the first frost on our calendar, but
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Travel + Adventure
Currently
Our first night in the cabin, dehydrated and weary, we line up our mattresses on the unfinished floor. Our eyelids are heavy, but we steal a few pre-bedtime minutes for shadow puppets on the wall. We are here, we whisper. Finally here.
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Miscellaneous
Currently
We finish The Hobbit. We bring home a farm mutt called Louie, supply dozens of lone socks for his milk teeth. I drive Ken to the airport at 6am, an errand that feels more familiar than either of us want it to. The kids and I attend six weeks’ worth of expected celebrations solo –
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Ideals + Musings
Currently
I order tomato seeds from Italy. I write a poem to my daughter’s friend. I meander through downtown gardens with my husband and youngest, popping in for a London Fog from a boutique hotel a few blocks away. While waiting for the barista, I people-watch, pretending I am just another tourist in a lobby full
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Ideals + Musings
A Lasting Truce
A poem for the woman in the co-op fumbling for an avocado, and for the right words. Stage 4, she says into the phone.
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Miscellaneous
A Goal for 2025 (or Forever)
In our home, December offers a great pause. Few responsibilities are doled out, save for the finding of a missing puzzle piece, candying the pecans, raveling the yarn ball back into its basket. We read poetry and scripture daily, adding in a beloved picture book from years passed. We work with our hands, topping peg