Articles & Essays

Talking Turkey
Attempts at pioneer life

Pruning
It wasn’t my chore. Then it was.

Finding a New Normal
Immersion reporting during the pandemic. Whaaat?

Saga of the Spud
All hail the Transcontinental potato.

Death by Potato
All hail the chip.

The Solace of Soul
The simmering, the sipping.The magic.

Eat. Pray. Rain.
Rain, drought, dragons and deities. But mostly rain.

Twitch for News Saves the Day
Practicing the profession he retired from,
for a newspaper he got roped into starting,
in the town he vowed never to return.

The Great Potato Awakening
How I learned to love the lowly spud.

Shelter from the Storm
Serving up hot food and generous portions of dignity.

Taking the First Ballet Step in a Quest to Dance The Nutcracker
It was decades since my last ballet class, but I was determined.

My Year of Aging Backward
My adventures in the world of anti-aging as I separate hope form hype.

Hands-on Magic
For Sarah Brightwood, Everything is function. Everything is art.

My Walk on the Blind Side
Life offered me a Sandra Bullock moment, and I'd like to say I seized it.

Letting Go
You wish you could spare her every hurt, but letting go is part of the art of mothering.

The Kindness of Strangers
An Oregon nurse enlisted an entire hospital to make sure that no one dies alone.

Bridging the Gap
Life in a residential Alzheimer's facility
through the eyes of the low-wage workers
who care for these vulnerable patients when their families can't.

Father's Day
Hallmark cards were not made for this guy.

Still Life
To be the author of your life, you have to keep writing the book.

The End in Two Acts
Both men were dying,
and both wanted the end to come at the time and place of their own choosing.

The Cult of the Cycad
What is it about a strange squat plant that gives rise to smugglers and obsessive collectors?

Dancing with Rose
We are more than the sum of our remembered pasts.

Ella
Listening to the end of life.

It's Not Just a Train Trip, It's a State of Mind
You haven't really ridden the rails
until you've ridden with the train-iacs known as "foamers."

Traveling Outside of Time
If long-distance train travel has a future, this is it.

A Hard-worked Woman
So when exactly was it that the Pioneer Mother sat down to read a book?

Temporary Friends
They appear. They disappear.

The Few. The Proud. The Readers.
Are books absolutely necessary?

The Ten Stupid Things Writers Do to Mess Up Their Lives
Ah, the fine art of self-sabotage.

Wasting Time
Life, even for a writer, can just be life.

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Read my mini-essays on mothering a 21st century teen