On Writer’s Block

I vividly remember the first time I struggled with writer's block in a serious way. It was the summer between my sophomore and junior year, and I'd just spent a glorious month doing nothing but going for long, luxurious runs in the woods with our dog, meeting up at Barnes and Noble with my boyfriend, … Continue reading On Writer’s Block →

On Living in Accord With the Land

(Written January 2020, shortly before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As you can imagine, some of these goals got derailed by our loss of childcare and working full time jobs--but some flourished in the space that lockdown provided. I'll try to elaborate on all of that in another post soon!). For the last few … Continue reading On Living in Accord With the Land →

On May shadows and sunshine

May is drawing to a close, and as its last days near, temperatures soar. It feels like it's been weeks since our last rainfall, and every time I open my weather app, little suns stare back at me. The grass in our backyard is becoming crispy. My garden requires constant drenching with a hose. And … Continue reading On May shadows and sunshine →

On Plants and Persistence

(Warning--this is an excessively long ramble about gardens). I have a thing for failed gardens. We go way back. Every spring a fever of desire comes over me: the desire to plant seeds in the ground and watch them grow. Every spring, I start a garden. And every summer, I still fail to have homegrown … Continue reading On Plants and Persistence →

On the Sweeping Emotions of Parenthood

Being a parent is not what I expected. The word parent is so boring. So blasé. Commonplace, even. Before becoming one, I pictured ill fitting jeans, responsibility, and the exhaustion of serving up mundanity to my children day after live-long day. As far as words go, parent was the opposite of romance in my brain. It was … Continue reading On the Sweeping Emotions of Parenthood →

On the business of survival

We woke to slate grey skies and helterskelter leaves flapping violently on their twigs in the trees. Jenna and I had been having a celebratory post-MCAT sleep over (complete with sticky buns, Oreos, Tarzan, and the Office) and as she rolled over to check her phone, her eyes got wide. "There's a tornado warning!" she … Continue reading On the business of survival →

On last days

Today's the day. My last day of work at my current job. I've had a lot of last days, each of them different and odd in their own respect. There was my last day as a Tree Inspector. That one was fairly easy to leave--I'd been hired seasonally for a three month position, and then … Continue reading On last days →