This Sunday, I’ll run my first organized 10k. As I type this first very rough draft out my race is sitting before me like a growling dog on a porch. I want to reach out and pet her but I am afraid she might bite my hand off. But even if I fall flat on the… Read more
I’ve spoken to a lot of people lately about why I blog but it occurred to me that writing my purpose into my blog might be a good idea, too. So, in the spirit of my 30 day blog revision and a belated New Year effort, here I am with a ‘purpose’ statement. I’m writing… Read more
The Seahawks and the words in a story. The two don’t seem to have much in common, but experiencing the buildup to the Superbowl within a few miles of Seattle’s epicenter has me thinking of crazy connections. Many years ago I took a fiction writing class through the University of Washington. The instructor and the… Read more
Not too long ago my father-in-law passed away. He had one of those slow wasting diseases that makes those who grieve him say things like “at least he’s not suffering anymore” partly because we lost him by tiny increments months and almost years ago. He had not been able to get out of bed or… Read more
“Are you having a midlife crisis?” Two male coworkers asked me this at work this week when I came back after vacation with radically different hair. “No,” I said. “It’s a mid-life acceptance.” I remember Larry the hairdresser in his little shop by the hospital where my mom worked when I was a teen. He… Read more
Last Monday, I sat in the dentist’s chair as he tried to break off the five year old ‘temporary cement’ on my front tooth, and I mentally cursed my 16 year old self for her carelessness. Sometime in the 1980’s I had ridden my bike down a hill thinking the most important thing was to… Read more
The pain started as my students finished their writing tests. It wasn’t unlike a lot of the pain I had been feeling lately in my gut — just more intense. I stood up to see if that would help as my last two students wrapped up their sentences and spoke to me about their worries… Read more
I often think of decoding grammar as piecing together a giant word filled jigsaw puzzle. A thousand pieces to put together on a kitchen table is really not so daunting compared to the complex ways English and other languages fit together, moving with our new ideas and needs for communication. The analogy somehow helps me… Read more