Getting older is not for the weak. This has become my mantra the past year as I’ve struggled physically with ongoing back and hip issues. How it started: I sneezed while getting up from my recliner. While this sounds like the beginning of a joke, it isn’t, although I have tried to laugh with every doctor, coach, and physical therapist that I’ve worked with...
Read MoreA book, a garden, a life
I had the privilege of introducing a friend at her book launch celebration in Flagstaff a few weeks ago. I admire her writing, and her. The essay she read that night is one that I teach in my class. Seeing the essay as part of a whole collection—a book that I could hold in my hands—delighted me. Many will now get to read her beautiful words and ideas. A...
Read MoreStories of my father
The last time my parents were in Flagstaff it just so happened to be the time my Letter From Home was in the paper edition of Flag Live. Although I’d sent hyperlinks of my essays to them, my dad held the paper and marveled that my essay was in print. “They gave you the whole page,” he remarked while folding it under his arm. I was waiting for him to say it...
Read MoreCocoon
My husband and I have been traveling more in the southwest than we have previously. After realizing that we’ve lived in Flagstaff for sixteen years and have seen very little of the area, we decided to create a list of places to visit. Even so, we are still looking to visit places in Utah and New Mexico but haven’t made it to Walnut Canyon yet. A few weeks...
Read MoreDead Things
My husband, Marc, and I made it out to Lake Mary this weekend. First, a disclaimer: I grew up in upstate New York, about two miles from Lake Ontario. So, I am a “lake snob” for sure. But since visiting the upper falls of Lake Mary last spring during the snow melt, I’ve come to appreciate the charms of a small-ish lake surrounded by forest, hills and quaint...
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