While we were in Bolivia, we took the girls to their very first soccer game, which turned out to be an epic match between the two great football clubs of La Paz: Bolívar and The Strongest. Our relatives’ neighborhood is a stronghold for The Strongest, so the girls got yellow scarves featuring the team’s tiger […]
Return to La Paz
You probably already know how much I love Bolivia. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have written a novel called Requiem in La Paz. I’m so happy I made it back to the country for yet another visit. I’ve put together a few blog posts, including this snapshot of La Paz, one of the most amazing […]
A Party Without the Pope
In July, I went to stay with friends and family in La Paz. I’ve fallen horribly behind on my blogging, but here at last are some photos from Bolivia, beginning with a billboard of Pope Francis, who did not come to our party. My first week in La Paz, Papa Francisco visited Bolivia as part […]
Solveig Haugland 1967—2015
On Saturday we said goodbye to Solveig Haugland, my dearest friend. Here’s my eulogy from her memorial service. When I first met Solveig, we were just teenagers, and I was in awe of her self-confidence and her brilliant mind. Those were the first things I noticed about her. (Also, I noticed that she was really, […]
Sense of an Ending
After finishing the rough draft of my new novel, I walked around in a daze for nearly a week. If you’ve ever tried to write a manuscript of any kind, you know what the endgame feels like: obsessive bursts of elation, plummeting depths of despair. I already have a folder on my computer dedicated to […]
Shawl Club: Caer Idris
Perhaps you saw the word ‘Idris’ in the title and thought this would be a post celebrating the handsome British actor Idris Elba. If so, I’m sorry to dash your hopes. This post features ‘Caer Idris,’ the second knitting pattern from designer Ysolda Teague’s 2015 Shawl Club. Like my first shawl club installment, the Caer […]
Losing Track of Time
Artist Deborah Butterfield’s stunning installation for the Denver Botanic Gardens is called The Nature of Horses. Made from bronze casts of driftwood, her mares are like spectral steeds, left to run feral after the Wild Hunt. I’m always trying to time my visits to the gardens to maximize the flowers, but something is always fading, […]
On the road again
I’ve been in Albuquerque this week, running errands and soaking up some sun. My favorite Weeping Atlas Cedar is sending its blue-green tentacles everywhere, and the Copper Rose is in perfect bloom. Dulcinea hasn’t been to New Mexico since she was a little puppy, and she’s enjoying the trails in the high desert. We need […]