Climbing Daddy and I were talking about mulching a small part of the back yard and got to talking about wood versus rubber mulch. I’m generally not a fan of rubber mulch. It’s made from tires and has all kinds of crap in it that’s not good for plants and not good for kids to … Read more
We went camping in northern Arizona last week, and aside from the fun stuff, I came home with two messages I want to share with you. The forests are giant tinderboxes We stayed in a pine forest, and the ground was coated in a spongy blanket of dry pine needles. Because gathering was permitted in … Read more
Just be yourself! It’s the little things that matter. Follow your heart. Time heals all wounds. You can do anything you set your mind to. Don’t give up. So much advice is tossed around, getting likes and shares, cultivating warm and fuzzies. Also cultivating confusion and shame. The advice has a place, but it’s not … Read more
“The treasure is more fun when it’s lost.” That was the opening line from Gabe Anderson’s email. “Found treasure becomes normal treasure and eventually we forget that it’s treasure at all.” It was thought-provoking. His context was work (he’s a musician), but it applies to everything that we have on a sort of pedestal in … Read more
“People from the northeast are so rude/straightforward/abrupt.” Or so I’ve heard. My experience is more that if you ask a stranger for directions in those places, they’re going to give you directions and move on. No small talk about the day or why you’re going there or the weather or where you’re from. But I’m … Read more
In most families as I’ve known them, Mom knows what’s going on. She is the keeper of the schedules, the appointments, the relationships between the kids and their friends, the homework, the extracurricular activities. She plans, shops for, prepares the food. Perhaps she nags for someone else to do the dishes, or perhaps it expends … Read more
“Hey, you got a card from someone,” The Climbing Daddy said one day last week when he brought in the mail. There wasn’t an occasion or anything attached to it—just a card that said, in sum, “I’m glad our paths crossed” from a relatively new friend. It was lovely. It made my day. I have … Read more
I have a lot of drafts of blog posts. What’s interesting at this moment is how many of those drafts are currently not relevant. Drafts of things from January or February 2020, before the pandemic came to this part of the world in force. Notes and thoughts and paragraphs about pieces of life that don’t … Read more
During college, I ended up changing my primary instrument from flute to trombone, taking two extra years to complete my degree because I needed to be proficient enough on the trombone to pass a jury or a recital. With all of the metaphorical sweat equity that went into becoming competent, there was no way I … Read more
We have a serious game of one-up-manship going on. It’s everywhere and completely lacks empathy. An easy example, one that likely isn’t triggering to most people, is weather. Right now, Texas is just starting to thaw a bit. People went for days without electricity and/or running water. It’s killing people. Homes are flooding. Drinking water … Read more