A peaceful warrior on the body and body image, spirituality, politics, family and food
In the second half of October, I took a break from crawling around in the dark cave of sexual assault stories to write on a lighter topic: in-laws! In the process I was delighted to discover the Wanderful community, whose mission is to build an inclusive network of women and non-binary people to help each other… Continue reading Kerala: A South Indian Lesson on Loving My In-Laws
Last week, I finally looked him up. It’s not as if I’d blocked it out all these years, but this time around, the memory was hitting me differently. I guess even given the resonance of the allegations, I wasn’t prepared for the triggering familiarity of Kavanaugh's tone. It didn’t take long to locate him on… Continue reading Brett Kavanaugh Reminds Me of College. God Help Us All.
My daughter and I thought we were just stopping by 12 Baskets to drop off some food for lunch, but when we arrived we learned that a wedding was about to begin. We had to stay. (For background on 12 Baskets see my post "No Ordinary Watermelon") Shannon, 12 Baskets' founder, was poised to officiate in… Continue reading Love endureth all things
Dear Karen, Remember when we went for that walk in the woods last week, and you asked if that patch of vines was poison ivy, and I told you very confidently that they were not? Well, Christopher just told me that they were. Are. And here I've been, wondering where those little stripes of it… Continue reading Mistaken Ivy
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I'm always experimenting with trying to make treats healthier, to make up for the fact that no one in our family -- particularly the parents -- have ever met with much success with portion control. Last week I made these cookies from Love & Lemons and my husband and I agreed they were the most… Continue reading Yum
I thought of Jacob recently, flashed to a memory of him standing in the small kitchen of my one-bedroom, head tilted slightly, saying shyly, "I know a really good way to cook bacon." He put the bacon in a saucepan, covered the bottom with water, baked it until the fat dribbled out. Broiled it to… Continue reading Jacob*
"Mama, how long have we been away from home?" Younger asked me. We were out west visiting family. "About ten days," I calculated. "Why? What's up?" I wondered. We had nearly a full week left of our current stop, and another ten days after that before we returned home. "Ugh," she sighed. "I don't stand… Continue reading Off to Camp
What is the shape of this story in your mind? Is it a longer arc, one that unfolds over many years or decades? Is it more of a self-contained episode? Something in between? How would you describe your emotions right now as you think about beginning to tell this story? Briefly and without thinking too… Continue reading Project Wellspring: Questions for Reflection
After 15 years of thinking about it, I am finally starting work on a project to compile stories of people navigating the challenges of their reproductive lives, with the ultimate goal of publishing such a collection. I am aiming for a range of diverse perspectives and experiences. They run the gamut from unplanned pregnancy to… Continue reading Project Wellspring
