Violence often happens in plain sight — Swim Lessons I lost my kid at the pool. She’s seven. She loves to swim. She was supposed to be sitting on the bench waiting for lessons to start, but when I walked over to help her get into the right group, she wasn’t there. …

Sometimes a name can be a legacy — My name was warmed in the streets of Seville, Spain. It was scorched by impending violence during the Spanish Civil War, and hurled across the pond to Cuba, bounced around New York City and Pennsylvania and then back to Cuba in an order I can never quite remember. I am…

I organized my essays into lists so you don’t have to work hard to find them — I was always the kid with the exploding binder. I love it when things are organized, but too often I don’t take the time to slow down. I’d much rather gaze at the natural life around me than tend to minutiae. But, I’m getting ready to be gone for awhile, so I slowed down and categorized my articles. You…

Gifts that remind me of love, friendship, and family — Because clearly I needed more than one purplish to-go coffee cup. Because four people on separate occasions spanning years thought so too. One was a gift from a friend not long after my dad died — a Christmas gift that felt more like a check-in. One was from my daughter…

5:00 am is all mine — The first hour of the day. Mine, unclaimed by anyone else. Usually, I start with a book or an essay, then turn my attention to writing. Often I have to tussle the dog who thinks the left side of the keyboard is a perch for her chin. This morning a…

So much abundance in one picture — Frying sausage on a Sunday morning in overalls. We never plan to make Sunday breakfast, but more often than not the crew is hungry from skiing the day before. Other notes on gratitude: the full coffee pot behind her, the step stool I stuffed in my suitcase because I loved…

Learning how to be more present from my dog — She’ll sit there for an hour, until she hears me get up to re-fill my coffee. Taking in the yard, she’s alert and calm at the same time. Wouldn’t it be good if we all took lessons on being human from our dogs? She’s not thinking about deadlines or after…

How I found my words for the year — A few years ago, I chose grace as my word for the year. I wanted to handle complicated moments with grace: my kid screaming over dinner? I wouldn’t lose my shit. Work problems? I would stay grounded and solution-oriented. At a total loss for what I should do with my…

Because the short days can feel so long — I would like to take the months January-March, and fold them into a paper airplane that lands in June. Winter is long in this most northern state. I cope by cross country skiing and drinking coffee. One of the things I enjoy about Medium, is the opportunity to re-share pieces…