Author – The Durango Herald

Clutching bows and simple pleasures in the woods

In our family’s archery cosmology, there are many ways to make a good shot. Your arrow can fly straight and smooth, loosed from the runway of your fingers like a bird fleeing a c...

DATE: Jun 23, 2017 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Our questions are a passport to the world

Rose and I are out doing errands, bustling in and out of the car with lists and bags, my mind clamped on things to remember like mantras that could derail my life if I lose the thread. ...

DATE: May 26, 2017 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Desert journey redefines our ‘family trip’

Lured by the hope of a banner season of desert wildflowers and some concentrated family time, we pointed our crumb-strewn Subaru south to the Sonoran Desert for spring break. We’r...

DATE: Apr 21, 2017 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Diversity makes us a stronger society

On a 70 degree spring Saturday, Col and I are inside the Fort Lewis College ballroom for a six-hour workshop. Admittedly, when I told Col about the opportunity to attend the Dive...

DATE: Mar 22, 2017 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Growing up is a dance toward independence

Col is skiing with a buddy, turned loose on the slopes without an adult. Rose is cruising downtown Durango with a friend, “window-shopping,” their hair swept into high ponytails, ears weighe...

DATE: Feb 22, 2017 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

During holidays, it wasn’t stuff that mattered

The 2016 holiday season unfurled a little like how I imagine those encounter groups went in the 1970s – everyone getting empowered to air their uncensored feelings. So much honesty! So much ...

DATE: Jan 25, 2017 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

A desert trip is good for all our souls

The tweens are huddled around a few square feet of sand, as enchanted as a pack of toddlers armed with buckets and shovels. We’re just outside Bluff, Utah, and have made it 500 feet from the...

DATE: Dec 21, 2016 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Soothing a bout of anxiety deep in the night

It is 2 a.m. I am on the living room couch with Rosie, who ghosted up to my bedside whisper-whimpering, “My ankle hurts and I can’t sleep.” I rub arnica salve into her right leg,...

DATE: Nov 23, 2016 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Give thanks for an imperfect feast

Not just for Thanksgiving, gratitude brings joy to every day

DATE: Nov 22, 2016 | CATEGORY: Food

Winter squashes are stars of seasonal menus

Versatile, delectable vegetables are a meal themselves

DATE: Nov 9, 2016 | CATEGORY: Food

In our swirl of emotions, nothing is ever lost, just transformed

Here we are again, caricatures of our own seasonal habitualness. I’m blindsided by the flared-up beauty of fall. Rose announces she’s not so hungry for dinner while peach and plu...

DATE: Oct 26, 2016 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Reliable roots

Enjoy fresh, local produce this winter by correctly storing root vegetables

DATE: Oct 11, 2016 | CATEGORY: Food