Author - The Durango Herald

As they grow, holding on to the threads of connection

It’s a puzzle of a Tuesday evening. Rose has soccer practice at a time that was once reserved for family dinner; she needs to be shuttled to and from the soccer field; Col has a friend stayi...

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

Parent love kids with a unique intensity

We are at the Rec Center park, Dan and I facilitating games for a group of Col and Rose’s friends. The Colorado sun pours from the cloudless sky and barefoot children run through the grass, ...

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

When emotions rise, try giving them a name

We are at 10,100 feet. The sky hangs heavy. The distant mountains, like an art lesson in shading, are veiled in deepening obscurations of gray. Lightning roams faraway peaks. Dan and I excha...

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

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