My Version of Walden Pond.
Henry David Thoreau was about 27 years old when he moved to Walden Pond in 1845. He stayed there a little over two years. I’ve been to that spot in Massachusetts. I’ve stepped into the one room cabin on Walden Pond and have seen the view he saw, the woods he walked in. I think […]
The Cows Really Do Come Home.
Recently, thanks to my sister Coleen, I have completely fallen in love with a children’s book entitled I’ll Love You Till the Cows Come Home and the follow up, I’ll Love You Till the Crocodiles Smile. They are arguably two of the cutest and most clever children’s books I’ve ever read. And yes, I know […]
The Goldilocks Zone and the Trouble with “Just Right”
We’re officially in that in-between season where the thermostat keeps switching between heat and A/C. Our house lives between a small Fahrenheit temperature window of 65–70 degrees. Amazingly, because of how we can set things on our thermostat, if the house gets below 65, the heat pops on. And the A/C does the same as […]
Nicknames – and the shape of connection.
The family that lived across the street from us included six little blonde girls, several of whom liked to come play at our house. My dad quickly realized he would not be keeping all their real names straight so he took to calling them all Fred – Big Fred, Medium Fred, Little Fred, Littler Fred, […]
Trader Joe’s tote bags – and the shape of things.
Trader Joe’s has turned a cheap grocery tote bag into a mini cultural event. Do you know this? I had no idea until last year at about this time when my friend Marisa started talking about what colors she was missing. What? Trader Joe’s has sold reusable bags for years. Canvas totes, insulated bags, and […]
The Geese Lesson.
I live in a neighborhood right now with a crap ton (*actual number) of geese. Is it because of the river? The lake? I have no idea. But I love watching them fly. I remember a day over a decade ago when I was trying to make a decision on a big career move. I […]
Apparently, wood cabinets are back.
I remember so clearly a couple years ago texting my friend Mariah a picture of someone’s legs while I was at Disneyland. They were wearing longer socks with their leggings — just like we used to do in the 80s. I said something like “Really? We’re doing this again?” Previous to that everyone had been […]
Aztec Cocoa and 13 Spicier Ways to Live.
The ancient Maya lived in the region of Mesoamerica, which today includes southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, parts of Honduras, and El Salvador. By around 500 BC, they were already crafting a bitter, frothy beverage from ground cacao, water, cornmeal, and chili peppers — what we now think of as an early version of “xocolātl” (pronounced show-co-LAH-tul). […]
A public legacy and a private gift.
Robert Redford died this last week at age 89. Here in Utah, that news landed a little closer to home. Literally. All week, the tributes I’ve heard have circled around the same idea: Legacy. And in hearing about that legacy, three things stood out to me. 1) He was a legendary actor.I loved Robert Redford […]
From Word One to Level Eight.
I grew up in a very large family, surrounded by siblings. A LOT of them. There was a gaggle of us – to say the least. Everywhere we went, even in the 60s, 70s and 80s (when it was much more common to have larger families), we caused a bit of a spectacle. My dad […]
