parenting – Going On 40

Two Sleeps Til Dolly

With TikTok shutting down, I’m on a mad dash to download and copy all the recipes I’ve saved. It feels like the early 2000s on Black Friday when herds of people squeezed and trampled each other for a toaster. Only now am I snagging ideas for fermentation. Actually, more than ideas. Just a few minutesContinue reading “Two Sleeps Til Dolly”

Weighty Inspirations

I experience giddy bursts of sudden energy, like powerful blasts that scream, “Let’s write!” or “Let’s take on all the projects!” It’s a feeling that makes me feel as if I’m Zeus soaring around his throne at Mount Olympus. The duration of these bursts is unpredictable, and I never know when they’ll come again, butContinue reading “Weighty Inspirations”

Graduation Day

Archie lets out a yip and howls in response to Dave’s lively tune on the piano. There are a few things that never fail to make Archie howl – the Final Jeopardy song, playing the harmonica, or when we all join in to awoo together. As I sit on the pull-out bed of Evelyn’s trundle,Continue reading “Graduation Day”

Start A Riot

“I made a mess, Mom. You want me to make more a mess?” My sprite of a toddler is cocked, loaded and ready to fire. So I say, “Sure!” Then, through the air fly a string of toy cars, dolls, and puzzle pieces. It’s not about the mess. I repeat. It’s not about the mess.Continue reading “Start A Riot”

I See Dead People

For those of you not privy to the characteristics of seed swap attendees, think of a cross between Renaissance fairgoers, commune guitar pickers, and librarian tote-slinging afternoon tea drinkers. Where I fall may be a mashup of all three. As the vest-wearing creators of the event cuddled up to smile for a selfie, I imaginedContinue reading “I See Dead People”

Duck, Rooster!

“The circle, the circle of life.” To start this tale, I declare that nature is a toilet to us all: The bats and the bees, the buffaloes and the bunnies. All allow their excrement to return home to whither it once sprung. But this, my confidants, has nothing to do with the deposits of animals.Continue reading “Duck, Rooster!”

Nitwit Lice Lessons

I pushed six wheelbarrows full of browning and yellowing fallen leaves into the slippery, muddy muck of the duck pen. Not often do the ducks wag their tails, but at seeing the piles of leaves, their back ends happily swished to and fro like fans on a hot day. Did you know that lice eggsContinue reading “Nitwit Lice Lessons”

Puddly Boots

I have a last-minute cuddly buddy in bed with me; messy red-headed, milk-guzzling, four days away from three-years-old, Evelyn. She had a belly ache from three toddler-sized bowls of tomato soup, but after milk and the offer to stay in my bed with me, she’s feeling better, and giggling and rubbing herself in the coversContinue reading “Puddly Boots”

Walking Into Spiderwebs

The limp fishing lines of spider webs with their weighty beads of dew are welcoming fall in like enthusiastic Walmart greeters. As the wind whips leaves free, I lay in the hammock swinging, wondering how I can communicate the depth of my love for this season. Evelyn’s 35-lb body is limp on mine. At theContinue reading “Walking Into Spiderwebs”

Damned If I

I’m that fan of myself, the one with an absurdly large number one finger on my hand, but just as quickly, I will back myself into a corner with the snarling, foaming mouth of a pit bull. That’s because “Sometimes you’re the windshield. Sometimes you’re the bug.” For part of today, I felt like a big, red,Continue reading “Damned If I”