On the Road Again: Rogue River, Zion Canyon & Family

Zion Canyon

Three weeks ago, my family was nearing two months of sheltering-in-place in our Baja home.  We had been adhering to strict physical distancing guidelines.  The kids hadn’t played with another child, and we weren’t socializing with friends in person. What had initially been a unique and precious incubation started to feel suffocating and lonely, even…

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Social Media Distancing

My daughter has been out of school and we have been sheltering-in-place for 7 weeks.  We have at least a month more to “quédate en casa” here in Baja California Sur. In March, I returned to social media to connect with loved ones and keep up with quickly evolving news during the pandemic. Now, I…

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It’s so weird: A moment at sunset during the pandemic

I am sitting on our second story deck with a mug of vanilla rooibos tea, local honey and warmed homemade almond milk that I finished squeezing from its nut milk bag just minutes ago. On the horizon, the sun is slowly slipping into its ocean bed for the evening. Waves rhythmically crash on the beach…

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The Miracle of Community

With each COVID-related blow to our sense of normalcy, I contract.  First, it was the acknowledgement that Dave might be away working at the hospital indefinitely; then the school closings; then the news of the California shelter-in-place; then our own shelter-in-place here in Baja. Today, the men who are building our house next door arrive…

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My Favorite 2 Little Words

“Forget your perfect offering There is a crack, a crack in everything (there is a crack in everything) That’s how the light gets in” – Leonard Cohen The corners of blackout film we’ve applied to this bedroom’s large windows have started to peel back, lighting the room just enough for me to have a sense…

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Pink Medicine

I lower a needleless syringe, tip filled with gooey, bubblegum pink liquid, into my 3-month-old son’s mouth. His eyes, still blue, draw in mine, and my attention traces the edges of their almond shape. “Okay, my boy, it’s time for the medicine that will help make you all better,” I tell him. He smiles back,…

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Space for Grace on my 39th Birthday

My daughter crawls into my arms, big brown eyes gazing down into mine that are adjusting to the daylight shining through the crack in our bedroom window shades. “Good morning, mommy,” she chirps in her soft, sweet almost two-year-old voice.  I break a smile and we banter a bit. She continues, “Happy birthday, mommy.” My…

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Blessed is this Life: Thoughts on the Eve of 39

Tomorrow I turn 39, and I approach this birthday with a full heart. Life looks different than it once did. Mostly, I have finally come home to myself. Being in my skin is comfortable, relaxing even. And all that I do – the many roles I fill as wife, mother, coach, friend, and more –…

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Hands in the Dirt

My breath tastes of compost and dust as I scoop a handful of damp earth with my right hand and gently place the roots of an arugula start into its new home with my left. I pat soil back around the hopeful green sprout and wish it ease and endurance as it settles in. I…

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