Author - The Durango Herald

‘Peaceful parenting’ a practice worth deepening

We’re in the car, returning from celebrating the Jewish holiday, Purim, at Temple Har Shalom. We’ve had a fun night, including participating in the rowdy re-enactment of the Purim story and ...

DATE: Apr 5, 2014 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Trust siblings to work out their own mysterious karma

Yesterday, outside: Col on skateboard, Rose on scooter, me performing the Winter Olympic event of soaking up the low-slung sun. Rose ditches her scooter and somehow finagles the first two la...

DATE: Mar 15, 2014 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

For daughter, information is like a wide, swirling storm

Rose and I are in an outdoor public restroom, trying to take care of business without pondering too deeply the dark, wet stain on the concrete floor. Rose is singing cheerily in an invented ...

DATE: Mar 1, 2014 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Sometimes, being seen without judgment can be enough

They’re like weather systems, children’s emotions. The clouds move in with a sniffly hiccup, a lip-quivery frown, and soon escalate like a tornado ripping across the plains. Sometimes I want...

DATE: Feb 15, 2014 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Children’s constant moving forward a lesson in impermanence

The most mystical part of parenting is this passage of time, the way children accumulate years to their very person, like geological layers. I’m always so blindsided: “What? Another birthday...

DATE: Feb 1, 2014 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Despite all the worry, ultimately, everyone’s going to be OK

An intuitive doctor recently said to me, “I’m picking up a little stress. You’re taking care of others, worrying about their well-being. Does that sound right?” Later, I told my f...

DATE: Jan 18, 2014 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Son helping with deer is a task that will feed him in many ways

There must be ways to tastefully photograph what an animal looks like after it’s dead but before it’s on your plate. This is what I was thinking as Dan instructed Col to hold the hoof away f...

DATE: Dec 14, 2013 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

The equation of growing up: Something lost, something gained

It’s possible that I’ve lost track of Col just a little. I want to take him to the Triangle park to test drive the new play equipment, and he wants to stay home, build fires and ...

DATE: Nov 30, 2013 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Evolution of children is a beautiful, confounding process

If Col is not sick and Rose is not bereft, I have approximately two days (and as many weary nights as I please) each week to put toward work. Today, Rose is bereft. Actually, she’...

DATE: Nov 16, 2013 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

Counting our blessings while winter is on the horizon

This is life right now: We’re in the final stretch of fall. It’s breathtaking and melancholy, per usual. Every day holds a little less of summer, a little more of winter. I found...

DATE: Nov 2, 2013 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

When it comes to this life: ‘Each day, each hug is a gift’

After my last column detailing Col’s concussion, I received many kind emails. Thank you. One comment flew, express-delivery, straight to my heart: “These children we are guardians of are a g...

DATE: Oct 19, 2013 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

There’s nothing in the world more important than our lives

It’s the sun’s last curtain call. The sky is pinking up. Rose sits on our swing, munching an 8-inch green bean. Chickens swirl like water around her feet, flowing into their coop for bedtime...

DATE: Oct 5, 2013 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood