We were at a clinic in Wyoming this week. I’m not saying it was hot, but Mister wouldn’t move from the front of the air-conditioning vent. I watch the breeze waft hair off his body in a near-mystical golden cloud. The air conditioner is doing its best on a hundred-degree day. I compare it to … Read more
I wasn’t thinking, really. The car was packed the night before. I got dressed while Jolene walked me, room to room on my heel. She will Not. Be. Left. Mister would like you to know doing anything at the crap of dawn is not civilized. He was taking his nap after breakfast. He barely woke … Read more
Yes, it’s a proper word. I didn’t make it up, but I wish I had. Quanked is in the 1893 Glossary of Words Used in the County of Wiltshire. It means overpowered by fatigue. They didn’t say emotional exhaustion, but I’m not alone here. I needed a word that was as old as I feel. … Read more
I traipsed across Minnesota and North Dakota through factory farms and cemeteries this summer. Trying to link childhood memories with physical locations, only to find they were gone. The only building standing seventy years later was a big white barn. Is that how long it takes for things to become unrecognizable? The span of a … Read more
Coming home, the washboard road is as close to a drumroll as we’ll get. We are bleary-eyed and dog-tired. I have a class to lead in three hours. Jolene needs to zoom in her yard like an Indy car. Mister sweeps the farm for stray cats who might need to be barked at. And the … Read more
Road trips have a feeling of being unstuck anyway, but this trip to the land of my people was like slingshot time travel. Glancing at a cloud, a memory starts foggy. Wait for the shy, buried parts to emerge. But then all the memories explode straight at you. Both slow motion and at blinding speed. … Read more
The week started with a needle in my forehead. You just knew it was going to improve. Then each day had hours of that kind of coolish-warm spring air. At our altitude, there’s nearly no oxygen, so it’s easy to remember to breathe it in. I had no extra work-work, so I spent time working … Read more
We have received a complaint from a cat in England. Rita says she reckons you cannot trust a woman who writes about dogs, with hardly a mention of cats. That tortoiseshell cat has been a critic for years. Rita does it because she wants more from life than sleeping in the sun. I met her … Read more
This week I went to dinner at a sports bar. I’m not the type, but there are no fine dining choices unless we drive into town. Two of the big screens had rodeo on them. There was a rope horse who got some rough handling when he refused to back into the box. The horse … Read more
I have kept this blog free of politics because I want a place we can come together, beyond social media and the news cycle. I am also a proud American who can no longer stand by. We need more than ‘thoughts and prayers.’ Surely it is time that we all stand together, regardless of personal politics, … Read more