I was going to title this little piece “We Are Jane,” but it felt too grandiose, and a bit pugnacious, as though I were daring anyone to argue the point. Most of us are not Jane Goodall. Her loss was a gut punch to me and to the world. Jane was an enormous sun, blazing…
The day after I returned home from the mental ward, I went to my house. No one was home, so I crept inside feeling afraid and ashamed, needing to see how the house and my animal family—Carter and Dinky the cat—had fared. I stepped into a mess of papers, empty plates, and clothes on the…
Walking with Carter was wonderful. Except for my need to be a good dog mother, I would not have pushed myself out into the forest. I’ll say this again: I was fading away from my life. But Carter and the forest teamed up to reminded me that awe was always afoot, and not far away…
He was a mistake. Four weeks after bringing him home, I realized the error. My then-husband and I were in our mid-sixties and more frail than any two people should be at that age. I really have no idea why we thought a new puppy would be a good idea, especially this mix of three herding…
As some of my readers know, I took a 17-day cruise to Alaska in May with my hubby Lee, and my brother Jay and sister-in-law Nancy. I wrote the following when I was on the cruise, and am finally getting around to sharing it after an ultra busy summer. Alaska remains embedded in my heart…
I have become quite the muller as of late. Ideas don’t sprout from my head fully fleshed until I do some serious mulling first. Rather, my mind collects an assortment of conundrums and possibilities, and tosses them into my brain where—like dish towels in a washing machine—the bits swirl and churn. Sometimes my mulling lasts…