Reaching through the thorns
Our mother sent us out to pick blackberries once, along a gravel road, each of the three of us with an empty Folger’s coffee can (wildly optimistic of her to think we would fill even one).
Remembering one beautiful day
I feel my late brother Tom’s wonder every time I look out at Puget Sound, and I’m so grateful for every beautiful day.
The cartoon presidency
The villain has taken over the US government and is raking in all the goodies.
I know you’re old, but what am I
Growing old is in many ways much like having your first baby–no one can truly appreciate the overwhelming, all-consuming novelty of it until it’s happening. Meet the deep end. Sink or swim.
Wishful Thinking
Wake me when it’s over \ When sunlight seeps through the curtains and the room begins to lighten
On the Third of July
What does Independence Day mean when we are experiencing direct parallels to grievances laid out in the Declaration of Independence?
When the safety net is gone, and homelessness is criminalized
Image: Дворецкая Таня-stock.adobe.com On June 28, 2024, the United States Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Grants Pass v. Johnson that cities could prohibit camping and sleeping in public places, that such laws didn’t rise to the level of cruel and unusual punishment–even when there is no available shelter. In short: …
When a writer has no bylines
You don’t think about it when you’re employed as a communications officer, you’re just following best practices by keeping yourself out of the story. But then comes the day when you need to put together a portfolio, and you find that you have no bylined or credited work for the …
When a flag includes all
On Nov. 6, 2020, I unpackaged a brand new American flag and put it out to fly, for the first time in four years. It was my signal to the world that the possibility of “America” survives. The 2020 election is still officially undecided, but as they have for decades, …