Category Archives: On Faith, Hope & Love
Trust the process
I didn’t know if I’d find them alive or dead. The temperature is -5 when I walk down the path behind our house cupping a small tub of meal worms. It had been -16 during the night, and the hens … Continue reading
When doing good doesn’t feel so great
(originally posted 10/2017) In the latest litter we fostered there was a clear runt, tiny and watchful, all head and twitchy ears. We should have named her Yoda but the kids dug in on Peanut. She was all quiet … Continue reading
Paddling Blind
(originally posted 7/2014) Last week my yoga class decided to meet on the water. “We’ll go visit the swans,” Erin said as she directed three of us into kayaks. She climbed into her own — well, they’re all her own, … Continue reading
Stepping up
While I was in Washington DC for the March for our Lives, this happened. Our foster cat had her babies. No matter that I’d spent the past week sleeping on an air mattress in her little room. This was her … Continue reading
The Myth of the Perfect Start
The log was 30 feet up in the air, a sort of telephone pole of a balance beam. I was supposed to walk from one end to the other, holding onto nothing. The rest of the group had done it. … Continue reading
Blind Date
Earlier this year I wrote this essay for Redbook…My husband and I celebrated our 15th anniversary this week, which got me thinking about the spirit of serendipity and risk-taking that got it all started. * * … Continue reading
Scent, Sound, Words and Memory: Reading with their Great-Grandmother
The lobby was empty, decorated in the orderly, outdated way that nursing homes are. Tired but precise, precisely tired. My mother waited in a corner chair. I was late, but she wasn’t disappointed. It had been a long time since … Continue reading
Daring to Care: What fostering animals taught me about parenting
The kids were clamoring for a new pet. A year earlier we’d said goodbye to our dog, and before that, the cat. In between was an unsuccessful series of hermit crabs. When each one crossed that proverbial rainbow bridge in … Continue reading
Hobbies? What Hobbies?
A friend was talking about her Pinterest boards recently, and how she’d added a new board for “hobbies.” Since Pinterest was her latest hobby, she laughed, it was like a hobby within a hobby. “I don’t even know what I’d … Continue reading
On Rejection and the Beautiful Blueberry
I was not in the best of moods the other morning. It was gray and sleeting, and I’m guilty of letting weather affect me. The to-do list seemed overwhelming, and the calendar said there were to be no babysitting hours … Continue reading
