My junior year of high school featured a huge disruption that would change my life moving forward and inspire a habit that stays with me to the present. In 1982, my mom, dad, sister and I traveled from Pullman, Washington, to London, England, where we lived for a year while my parents took a sabbaticalContinue reading “A writing life”
Tag Archives: family
The perils and perks of picking blackberries
Summertime in the Inland Empire means days so hot the moisture evaporates leaving behind oven-like breezes. Back in the 70s, it also meant my mom would load my sister and I up in the back of our ’66 Dodge Dart and point it into the countryside to look for blackberries. Blackberry picking takes grit. TheContinue reading “The perils and perks of picking blackberries”
A moving experience – dismantling a life
August, 2018: Earlier this year, I helped my mother and stepfather move from a house they had lived in for 20 years into a retirement community. I flew from Florida to Seattle and spent five days taping together cardboard boxes, filling them with possessions, marking them with sharpies and stickers so the movers would knowContinue reading “A moving experience – dismantling a life”
The open road
In a few short days, we will jump in our Toyota Tacoma with our dog Shadow and drive about 3,000 miles through 13 states to move from Gainesville, Florida, to West Sacramento, California. The trip will take us about six days. We’ll be traveling through Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah,Continue reading “The open road”
Saying goodbye
We had to say goodbye to our 14-year-old cat Morceau today. It came as rather a shock, as last week he was skittering around the kitchen like a kitten. But death can come like this, suddenly and without warning I knew our cat Morceau before he was even born. In January of 2004, my sonContinue reading “Saying goodbye”
Memories in bloom
A simple bouquet grows a garden of memories.
I’ll always have Paris
I don’t remember falling in love with Paris. My memories of my family’s first visit to the city faded long ago, for it was 40 years ago. I’ve heard stories of snooty waiters who looked down their noses at us because we spoke no French, and I’ve seen photos of my mom, my sister andContinue reading “I’ll always have Paris”
Things I've Learned Along The Way 