Author - The Durango Herald

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

‘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