Living an Unfinished Adventure
We are all living in cages with the doors wide open
I’ve been single parenting it for two weeks now. Having lived in a community with a high military population as well as North Slope—oil and gas working families, I’ve sat through many a conversation (quietly) between people temporarily single parenting. Having always had a present working partner, I merely nodded empathetically and stayed guiltily mum.... Continue Reading →
For the past few poor snow years we’ve become wild ice chasers, listening anxiously for word-of-mouth news on lakes, sloughs, ponds and marshes that have frozen solid (enough) and are clear (enough) of snow to skate. This year though, has been a glorious snow year. Don’t get me wrong, we love the snow—winter is what... Continue Reading →
For one week, the spring sun was simply stunning and the snow reacted dutifully, streaking in buckets down our street towards the drains, squelching into soggy lawns and creating brilliant reflections anywhere it couldn’t. The left behind browns work hard at greening up, but they always take a muddy while, so we headed to the... Continue Reading →
I have settled on a few, weighty conclusions this heavy year, and one is that belief is a recurring choice. As a species, a nation, a community and as a family, we have been shown just how little control we exert on the world as it has pushed us back into our humble place of... Continue Reading →
In the midst of this pandemic and our own inner turmoil, we sought the sea and its shores for respite this summer. As I watched the rain fall into the ocean surface, I wondered about this human desire to seek solace on the seashore. I felt that we personally were drawn to the sea this... Continue Reading →
“Time did not exist; or if it did it did not matter. Our world then was both wide and narrow—wide in the immensity of the sea and mountain; narrow in that the boat was very small, and we lived and camped, explored and swam in a little realm of our own making…” –The Curve of... Continue Reading →
The world is replete with quotes inspiring us to push the boundaries of fear and become greater because of it. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” Helen Keller ”Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” Ambrose Redmoon “Always remember, it’s simply... Continue Reading →
In Alaska, this time of gratitude begins with the scraping of leaves, the last, dismal voices of a season. It arrives fortuitously, when I and the land are suspended, like a deep gulp of air before the brilliant, frigid flood of snow washes over us. With the work of an entire summer grinding into nitrogen... Continue Reading →
Like countless school children before me, I blame it on the dog. Our poor pet sitter planning forced us to back out of a float down the glacial fed Matanuska, with plans to camp along various gravel bars over Labor Day weekend. So we scoured the bucket list for a three day camping trip that... Continue Reading →
Living an Unfinished Adventure 