When a Story Leaves Me Trapped in a Sleepless Night

September 22, 2011

I had grand plans for today. I imagined a long day with an unusually open schedule, me unencumbered, open to the flood of productivity and focus that would sculpt my generous free time into magnificent creations. A landscape of sand castles; a torrent of beautiful words–fantasies of flowing, effortless creativity (and household chores done in [...]

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A First Rain and Gray Sky Welcome Me to the New Season

September 18, 2011

I awaken to the sound of rain. It is a sound I haven’t heard in a long time. The second half of summer has been dry, though cool, and we have not had anything you could call rain. Spritz, maybe; a shower here or there. But not rain, not the real wet stuff that makes [...]

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Letter to the Editor of The New Yorker Magazine, from September 2001

September 11, 2011

Following is the letter I wrote about in two blog posts: “When Writing a Letter Interweaves with a Big Story: Part I of a 9-11 Memory” and “How a Letter Brings Unexpected Connections: Part II of a 9-11 Memory.” It was published in the September 17, 2001 issue of The New Yorker magazine, which was [...]

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How My Letter Brings Unexpected Connections: Part II of a 9-11 Memory

September 11, 2011

This blog continues the story of how a letter to the editor became part of my 9-11 story. In Part I, I describe the impetus for the letter, and its publication in The New Yorker. A copy of the magazine, with my letter printed, arrived in my mailbox on September 11, 2001. When 9-11 happened, [...]

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When Writing a Letter Interweaves with A Big Story: Part I of a 9-11 Memory

September 8, 2011

This week holds many memories of the days around 9-11 and our associations to that event. Here is one of the stories that took shape for me around that time. My family was always an avid reader of The New Yorker magazine. I remember piles of them around the house when I was growing up. [...]

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New Bark Mulch and Life’s Impermanence: Reflections on Early Morning Gardening

September 3, 2011

When I woke up this morning, one of my first thoughts was, “I should clean up the yard before the sun heats up” (we are, in fact, expecting some rare heat this weekend). I regretted that thought because once it was there, it nagged at me. So out I went. First I cleaned up fallen [...]

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How My Cat and I Claim Our Space Upon Returning Home

August 31, 2011

When my cat comes home from boarding, she runs from room to room, sniffing. She rushes to the front door and looks out. She scurries to the back door and looks out. She surveys her domain with eyes and ears and nose. She scratches perfunctorily at indoor and outdoor posts and rubs her face against [...]

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How My Ambivalent Relationship with Summer Heats Up for One Day

August 21, 2011

I have always had an ambivalent relationship with summer. I love the concept—time slowed down, demands reduced, a vision shaped by childhood memories of outdoor play and Girl Scout camp. The problem is I don’t like heat, and I’m not even that crazy about sunshine. I wilt. I feel lethargic. I lose motivation. Growing up [...]

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I Want My Brain to Age Well–What Should I Do? Part II

August 14, 2011

This post continues I Want My Brain to Age Well–What Should I Do? Part I, based on a continuing education seminar put on by INR Seminars. As pointed out in Part I, we do not yet have scientific evidence about what causes Alzheimer’s disease or how to prevent it, but we have increasing information about [...]

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I Want My Brain to Age Well–What Should I Do? Part I

August 12, 2011

Yesterday’s NY Times crossword puzzle had typical word clues as well as number clues. Language and math rolled into one—now that was good for my brain. I’ve got the brain on my brain after attending a course last week,  “The Aging Brain.”  Like everyone there, I was accruing continuing education hours for professional licensure, but [...]

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Finding My Quiet Mind Away From Social Media…For Today

August 7, 2011

Well aware of a certain silliness, I began the day with this Tweet: “Is it too ironic to post on Twitter that I’m planning a low SoMe off-line day? I need a quiet mind.” I then snuck in a glance at my Facebook news feed, checked some key on-line sites, and shut down for the [...]

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Reclaiming the Pleasure and Potential of “Lazy”

August 4, 2011

The word lazy has a bad reputation. People throw the word around as a criticism and accusation, and we throw it at ourselves. Didn’t work hard enough today? Were you being lazy? Haven’t achieved enough? What’s the matter with you—are you lazy? Taking a breather? Watch out, you are going to get lazy. Of course, [...]

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Today’s Writing–My Comfort and My “Thank You” after a Great Workshop in Seattle

July 31, 2011

It’s the day after a workshop, and I am exhausted. Six hours of teaching plus all the time setting up and cleaning up–to say nothing of waking up so early and getting on the freeway!–it all leaves me taking a lot of deep breaths and saying out loud, “I’m so tired!!” But that doesn’t change [...]

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Thinking Beyond a Big Jar of Peanut Butter to Help My Local Food Bank

July 23, 2011

One year, for the annual US Postal Service Food Drive, my husband volunteered to pick up a donation at the grocery store. He was gone a while, and when he came back he said, “I got stuck.” I knew what he was talking about: being at a store, indecisive, caught between options, standing in the [...]

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Remembering My Sister on an Important Anniversary (Thanks to Decluttering)

July 17, 2011

I didn’t plan to spend the afternoon decluttering. I was already settled in, working on slides and handouts for an upcoming workshop, when I needed material from previous presentations. I have mountains of old materials, and I had to do some digging to get to what I wanted. On the way to finding what I [...]

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How Loving My Vegetables Makes Me Want to Eat (and Do) More

July 12, 2011

I didn’t have much time to blog today. I was too busy with my vegetables. Tuesday is farmers’ market day for me—Crossroads Bellevue Farmers Market opens at noon, and my husband and I try to arrive close to the start. We buy just for the two of us, but I sometimes wonder if the vendors [...]

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Remembering Gratitude For My Eyes (Despite the Reading Glasses)

July 7, 2011

It’s been a sight-centric few days at my house this week. My husband had the first of two surgeries for cataracts, so we’ve been spending a lot of time looking at what he can and cannot see and imagining what the world will look like to him with his new eyes.  This has made me [...]

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Who is a Step-Mother at a Wedding? Finding My Place in a Wedding Processional

July 1, 2011

I did not expect to be here, in this moment, walking down an aisle with my husband—the father-of-the-groom—in the opening procession of my step-son’s wedding at Half-Moon Bay Golf Links. I expected to be on the sidelines, hovering, making myself small, wondering only what the proper place was for a step-mother. There are, of course, [...]

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Why Today Is A Great Day for Reflection and Review (Hint: It’s Mid-Year)

June 26, 2011

I am up early today, writing in the early morning quiet that I love. I see that we are coming to the last week of June—just past the summer solstice and before baseball’s All-Star Game—6 months of the year nearly gone. Does it seem like a long or short time ago that we were inviting [...]

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Back Home from California and Eager to Reconnect

June 20, 2011

I’ve just returned home from a whirlwind trip to California for a family wedding. Hitting the warm California sunshine after months of Seattle cold and gray was a shocker. The light was delicate but very bright and the air was deliciously warm (but not hot). The expression “bathed in light” was apt. The wedding was [...]

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