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Thanksgiving has come and gone, the turkey has all been eaten, and holiday lights have begun appearing all over our neighborhood – and probably in yours, too. While I contemplate what to do with the cranberries that are still lingering in the fridge, I am clear that a little time every day to figure out […]
I wish you all a Thanksgiving filled not just with gratitude, but also with the love of those who are important to you and a good dose of generosity, compassion, and community. It’s been an anxious, frustrating year for many of us who keenly feel the effects of divisiveness in our country right now. Here’s […]
Earlier this year, I began taking acoustic guitar lessons. Even though I played a little bit when I was fourteen years old, I now had to start from the beginning. I had to build up callouses, learn to tune the guitar, repeat the same exercises over and over and over. And then over some more. […]
This mid-term election season was the meanest, nastiest one that I remember. The belligerent television ads and newspaper ads were often well beyond any semblance of decent or factual debate. And I really believe the meanest, nastiest ads were on the Republican side of things in the Minnesota market. Not that all the Democrats’ ads […]
Take one day to be a kid for a minute. Carve a pumpkin. Eat some gooey candy. Put on a superhero cape. Turn off the television or computer and go run through some leaves. I’ll be doing the same, as well as passing out candy in our driveway by the light of firewood ablaze in […]
Two years ago, when my partner Mick decided to dig up the portion of our backyard where our raised beds stood and sow wildflower seeds, I thought he was just having some fun. He loves to garden. He loves to grow things he hasn’t grown before. He loves to expand our garden and reshape it. […]
Finally, sunshine has found its way back to Minnesota after a week of gray skies. Not that I minded those gray skies. Lots of people I know were down in the dumps from the sense of endless dark days, but here is one thing I know about myself: I like cloudy days. Stormy weather. Wind. […]
It’s been a helluva week – one in which I’ve turned off the television, not read the newspaper with my usual devotion, spent little time on social media, and drank more wine that I really needed. I know I’m not alone. Recently, I’ve written about choosing not to be angry, about what the most radical […]
Leaves change, rain falls, the dog snuggles in her bed. I cook more, linger over pots of pasta sauce and stew. The furnace kicks in late at night as a chill settles over our house. And I can feel that autumnal mood take hold, the one where my most pressing desire is to be home, […]
The rain fell yesterday, its cleansing of the dying garden and leaf-littered deck a welcome sound as I worked. I ate my lunch late – a toasted tomato sandwich with a tasty tomato from the St. Paul Farmers Market – in front of the rain-spattered patio door where I could watch water droplets plink into […]
