Over the last few years I have found myself avoiding using it. I might say, memory challenge, or memory loss, but not dementia. As I embrace initiatives both at work and in my community to reduce stigma associated with mental illness, I started thinking....what do I fear when I fail to call it what it … Continue reading Yes, I will use the D word
Gratefulness
How we connect: hello Montana
Whitefish Lake, Montana from Amtrak train. It all began when the woman asked me to watch her luggage so she could dash, unencumbered by belongings, into the Union Station bathroom. (The PA system had announced the Empire Builder train was running at least an hour late.) When she returned she asked me about the book … Continue reading How we connect: hello Montana
An event at midlife: crisis, challenge, breakthrough, or opportunity?
This blog was originally posted at Women Writers, Women's Books on May 1, 2019. When I was 26 years old, my 54-year-old mom received her doctorate. She had divorced my dad a few years prior, moved from Portland, Oregon to San Francisco, and enrolled in a Ph.D. program that seemed crazy to some of her … Continue reading An event at midlife: crisis, challenge, breakthrough, or opportunity?
A road to the coast
Hundreds of times in my life I have traveled from Portland to our Oregon Coast through the Coast Range. At least a quarter of those times I have stopped at the one rest area off Highway 26. Once, yesterday, I actually took a few minutes to view the historic kiosk located there, usually too eager … Continue reading A road to the coast
Sadness in the beauty
Sadness in the beauty of the day.My cold fingers ache in half finger cycling gloves, yet early morning sun shines bright enough to need shades. I feel sad in the beauty of it.Sad for those I miss who no longer are here.Sad for those who no longer are as they once were. The stillness of the air, … Continue reading Sadness in the beauty
Of posts, publications and possibilities
Today is publication day for Beyond the Ripples! Yippee! In addition to three wonderful author endorsements, I am pleased to see the first (of hopefully many) reader reviews to show up on GoodReads and Amazon. I appreciate Women Writers, Women's Books for featuring my essay today on their website. When I wrote it I wasn't … Continue reading Of posts, publications and possibilities
Bursting into May
I could be referring to the blast of cherry blossoms, tulips or cottonwood. Or this week's bluster of rain and wind. Instead, my thoughts are full with planning for the release of Beyond the Ripples, my debut Oregon-based novel, in just a few weeks. Above all else, I feel such gratitude for the support I … Continue reading Bursting into May
Teach our children well: a story about trillium
I keep meaning to get to that next novel. Write it, that is. (The one that lies in wait, somewhere, inside me.) Instead, other words infiltrate my not-still brain, urging it on with a different, pressing demand. Another blog. My brain is obsessive. It rapidly composes, adding words to one another, making it hard to … Continue reading Teach our children well: a story about trillium
It’s the end of the trail
End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive & Visitor Center, Oregon City, Oregon It may feel like the end of the trail, somedays...but don't take me too literally. My final scheduled book reading and signing of My Music Man will be at the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive and Visitor Information Center on Saturday, March … Continue reading It’s the end of the trail
Let’s talk about It
I was going to write a blog about It. Then I read a piece by Atwood, and I didn’t have anything else to say. She said it all, more eloquent than anything I could craft. Fears about It lurk in my dreams and during my awakening. Heightened as I think about our children. Earth as we have known … Continue reading Let’s talk about It
