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
Mister is barking in a steady rhythm. His metronome bark. Consider it a warning siren. He knows. There is a look Mister gets when I grab Jolene’s leash and give him a chewy. And there is a look he gets when I head out the back door with an armful of clothes. Mister knows a … Read more
Sometimes, change sneaks up behind you when you least expect it, knocks you down, and drags you off, kicking and screaming. Jolene careened into our lives like a bowling ball toward a triangle of pins. We saw her coming and stood still, waiting. Monday: When we left off, I was all mushed up about Jolene. … Read more
It felt like a militant act of self care. Like cutting your hair really short or tossing out jeans for their inability to adapt to change. But those things are common to me. This was bigger. I found the life-altering drug that Mister and I needed. There is a puppy. She has a name. But … Read more
Do you follow the Iditarod, too? Northern breeds are such athletes with their instincts on full display. These half-wild dogs are perfect. They get to run with their pack. Then they stop and all lie down to rest. They eat better than most of our dogs. And then, with very little steering, they run some … Read more
It’s before dawn on a Friday morning and I’m in an RV park in Amarillo, Texas. I’ve been mud-wrestling with a cold for a couple of weeks now, but I’ll make it home tonight. I can hear a train whistle close by, some eighteen-wheelers getting an early start, and my dog snoring, belly-up in … Read more
I don’t know if I told you… I wrote a new book. An Undomesticated Sequel to Stable Relation