For the Love of Earth

September Bounty

harvest season is upon us!

While living in the farming town of Pescadero, California, I became an exuberant local-food enthusiast. For those six formative years, most of my friends and neighbors worked in agriculture…

the mystery of millie rose

and a profoundly intuitive & important epiphany

Monday was brutal. I was on edge all day, wondering what the hell is going on with our one year old. She inverted a box of pasta, spilling rigatoni all over the kitchen floor. She broke two…

ordinary love

July’s arrival has not been subtle. This afternoon, even in the shade, flowers wilted on their stems. The air was heavy in my lungs, and birds sat quiet and still in the trees. On days like…

scuba diving in the river

metaphorically speaking

How dare the daylilies bloom persimmon already? And how dare my sweet children turn one- and three-years-old this month? Can you believe those baby bunnies, already looking quite…

this is your brain on spring-green

greetings, fellow hibernators!

Sunrise on the Charles. Blackbirds buzz like dial-up internet, robins tweedle-dee from treetops, cardinals call like car alarms. The sky is all peach and periwinkle behind mostly-naked oaks…

we can get used to anything

but we probably shouldn’t

I’ve always loved a good snowstorm. Bits of frozen water transform a landscape–magic! Humans are forced to slow down and acknowledge we don’t rule the world–finally! There’s a visible…

tell me a story, mama

the pathetic dearth of toddler-friendly-tales in my head

There were certain things I was prepared to do as a parent: lose sleep, change diapers, manage tantrums, read books, chop food into little pieces. I knew that I’d be leaning on my patience,…

season of the sticks

gratitude for all the feels

A few weeks ago, I put a two-day event called “NOTHING PLANNED” on our calendar to mark this sacred mellow weekend. Yesterday was rainy and the river was moody. This morning we woke up to…

what to do with all this joy

attempting to savor the season and life in general

When I ordered a pumpkin spice latte last week, the barista served me this work of art. Look at this festive little face! A whimsical and generous creative act. Later that day I was…

our country is butterfly goo

notes from inside the pupa

I was recently talking to an 84-year old friend. Mary joined the Peace Corps in the sixties, then spent her whole career in Africa and Southeast Asia helping refugees. Earlier this year she…

"those shitty little things" and other treasures

finding inspiration among the asters

One of my brothers recently referred to our home as “a house that’s falling apart.” Whatever, John. I know there’s a teetering boulder in the basement holding up half the foundation, but…

stick it to the man, go look at the moon

the present moment is ad-free

Have you noticed how different news sites are using different words to describe what happened to Charlie Kirk? The New York Times calls it a "killing," Fox News calls it an "assassination,"…

mindful by accident

been a helluva summer

More than two months have passed since Monday June 16th. That was the day the ultrasound tech called in her boss, who called in her boss, to look at the baby’s MCA dopplers. Those tumors on…