Author – The Durango Herald

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

‘Feels like a gift’ to preserve annual harvest

Durango cultivates society of hunters and gatherers

DATE: Oct 4, 2016 | CATEGORY: Food

In September, mom, kids revel in joyful rituals

September is the month of Dan bow-hunting, which is so traditional it seems to be encoded into our DNA. The familiarity of slipping skins off green chiles, or salting cucumbers in...

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

When mom, dad rediscover themselves, it’s good for the whole family

We’re backpacking through stunted trees and out into the green alpine where late season wildflowers flare in a last stand of fertility. The sky is forever blue, making the threat...

DATE: Aug 24, 2016 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

In high country, adults, kids get what they need

We are at 11,500 feet, staring across a sloping meadow, wildflowers swirling in a Monet-like blur of color. Three kids are bent over a gopher hole, every cell in their bodies magn...

DATE: Jul 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Transformation: Childhood’s eternal theme

It’s Saturday morning, and Dan and I are drinking coffee and playing Scrabble. The kids are on the couch, reading. When I ask them to please wash their breakfast dishes, they shuffle to the ...

DATE: Jun 22, 2016 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Compliments fuel fun on this special night

We are eating roast chicken, deliciously bathed in its own fatty juices (and maybe a little extra butter to help things along), which is the first clue that something’s different about tonig...

DATE: May 25, 2016 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Don’t let clouds of worry rain on life’s many joys

It’s greening up with such promise here. The trees are in that baby stage, hatchling leaves erupting and surrounding the limbs like a fuzzy, green cloud. The lemon-yellow goldfin...

DATE: Apr 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Library’s magic is wizardry most supreme

Some day when Col and Rose are grown, they’ll look back on their childhoods and see their daddy handing them arrows to shoot at rotting stumps. Dan will star in their memories as...

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

After injury, kids are the best medicine

Three weeks ago, I got a concussion after losing my footing at the ice rink and falling on my head. I know. Highly cautious middle-aged mothers are not the typical profile for co...

DATE: Feb 24, 2016 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Be playful, be silly, while there’s still time

Rose and I are walking Lucy, one of Rose’s canine clients, in the snowy woods behind our house. Rose is bouncing along and inventing icicle jokes. “What do you call an icicle in t...

DATE: Jan 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood