I haven’t written a blog post in some time. I’ve been on the road without my laptop for the first time. Now I’m back at my desk. I don’t have a reputation as an avid traveler, nor have I ever been a travel writer, but I just returned from Peru with Harriet and Owen, and I’m processing my impressions. One thousand years ago, Peru was the center of Incan culture, specifically the city of Cusco...
I had yesterday’s “No Kings” protest on my calendar for weeks, knowing I would attend. I told myself the day might prove to be a turning point for our country: that any incited violence would cause Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would serve as the final nail in the coffin destroying whatever democratic norms and free speech we have remaining; or it would prove to be a peaceful...
We’ve all pressed the reset button to restart a device or system that is unresponsive or malfunctioning. It’s a go-to fix for a multitude of issues. I’ve gotten better at resetting myself when I start to malfunction. When anxious or emotionally drained or feeling lost, I’ve learned to pause, step back, and intentionally return to a clearer, more balanced version of myself, more prepared to handle...
In this dark moment in our country’s history, stained by a corrupt administration that lies to, threatens, extorts, and punishes its own people, that cleaves divisions among us, that celebrates bigotry and cruelty, that instead of serving people it cuts services to people in need—within this anxious moment, there is still sublimebeauty, there is October. Is the difference only that one is human...
A police cruiser pulled up and stopped at our corner today. My heart began to race. I wondered if I should run out the back door and jump the fence and disappear into the ravine. I thought maybe the police officer had come to arrest me. That’s because I’m against fascism, and the authoritarian fascist president of our country just declared Antifa (short for anti-fascist) a “Domestic Terrorist...
I was talking with a friend of my own vintage, who said all of the big decisions in life are over for us. He was referring to the decisions we make as we lift the anchor on our childhoods and begin charting our course as adults. We made our decision about education years ago—whether to attend college and what to study. We’ve chosen career paths (we’re both writers). We’ve decided who to marry...
For most of my life I’ve had only a few friends. Now I have added to that roster. Not that I’ve become more social (I’ve become less, if you can imagine that), but I’ve expanded my definition of friendship. I have local friends who help me feel anchored to my community. Historical friends that have been deeply entwined in the fabric of my life for decades. Writer friends who understand that...
Today was the first day in a while I’ve gone out to tend the gardens and property. I realized how behind I was. I pulled out and pruned. I trimmed and cut. I got covered in milkweed milk. I arranged rocks. Watered. Fixed a fence. Dumped wheelbarrows of organic debris over the ravine. Turned the compost pile. Sometimes I do all that work and forget to pay attention to the beauty surrounding...
Do you ever wonder how often you think of the ones you love the most? Certainly, anyone you’re living with—a partner, a child, a parent, a friend—you think of every day, at least once a day, because they’re right in front of you as a reminder. What about the parent or friend who died months or years ago? The old friends who promised to stay in touch? Or the person you were once romantically...
I planted two hazelnut saplings. You need at least two for pollination purposes. It takes 3-4 years to begin bearing fruit. Each season, I prune and shape them. One tree grows steadily; one lags. I risk digging up and moving the struggling tree to a location with better light. I water it every day. It survives the shock of transplantation. I protect the trees with cages. And this year, their...
We’re halfway through the U.S. Open tennis tournament and the fireworks are popping. I’m not referring to blistering service aces or smashing overheads or 20-shot rallies punctuated by down-the-line winners. I’m referring to post-match confrontations between players. Tennis has an annoying and prissy culture of “tennis etiquette” consisting of a number of “unwritten rules.” They’re unwritten...
We could solve many environmental and climate change problems if only the promise of teleportation had come true. I first saw beam-me-up magic on the original Star Trek series: Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and crew standing in the transporter room, their figures dissolving into glittery confetti and then reanimating on one of the strange new worlds they’re exploring. If we had teleportation...
My mom, Irene Klein, died more than 40 years ago when she was 58 and I was 24. I was still largely undeveloped as an adult, and losing my mother was a huge blow. I drifted rudderless and without purpose for some years after. I’ve always wondered what my life would have been like if she’d been around to continue loving me and guiding me. Then when I was 35, in marrying Harriet, I gained a mother...
I walk into this view and greedily soak in every color and texture until I’m drunk on beauty, cool sand beneath my feet, demure waves rippling onto shore and out again, sun spraying the sky pink and casting golden upon the water, a solitary bird my companion, the horizon and the tree line the extent of my world. I want to appreciate this moment completely and I also want to take a photo for...
I must have been six or seven years old, hopefully not nine or ten. Our family was at Crystal Beach, an amusement park located on the shore of Lake Erie in Ontario. We went there once every summer, having earned ride tickets based on the grades we got on our report cards. My older siblings were going on the Magic Carpet, a walk-through funhouse with crooked rooms, funny mirrors, moving walls...
