I spent my birthday hiking in the mountains outside Santa Fe, and the weather gods were absolutely there for me, serving up the kind of fluffy wet snow I’d been dreaming of all year. When we first contemplated moving to New Mexico, I felt that I could be on board as long as I had […]
The Christmas holiday found me in Minnesota with my family, where everything was blissful and perfect, apart from the blizzard, the bitter cold, and the neighbor’s house catching on fire. The skies were lined with silver, the low temperatures producing some of the most striking sun dogs I’ve ever seen. On Boxing Day, we experienced […]
Seven years ago, I was a solitary professor living in Wisconsin with my three cats. Last month, Steve and I headed up into the mountains with our doggy to celebrate our seventh anniversary. Seven is a magical number, often referenced in fairy tales, and seven years is enough time to see into the heart of […]
We all took a day off from work and went up to Kenosha Pass for Bobbi’s birthday, and it was the best birthday party ever. The day included snowshoeing, wine-tasting, cupcakes, music, and authentic Swiss fondue. We had no cellphone service, which I consider fortunate since the Internet was blowing up over the president’s ban […]
I’ve always believed that sometimes you simply have to get out of town, burning the bridges behind you if you must. In the weeks following the presidential election, I found myself believing that more strongly than ever. Whenever we feel trapped or powerless, we need to get out of our own heads. We can’t flounder […]
Ideally, this journal would be an uplifting record of my happiest days, filled with nature and art and beauty. But the world hasn’t been especially cooperative lately, making it hard to ignore the clouds of bitterness and anxiety darkening our horizon. There’s no need to add my voice to the outpouring of grief and anger […]
My weekend in Santa Fe didn’t go as planned, mainly because I didn’t do any planning. I’d been under deadline, trying to finish a book-length editing job. So I went to New Mexico without expectations, having relinquished all programming decisions to my husband. Here’s what happened. We visited the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument: desolate, […]
There’s still a bit of snow left in the high reaches, but we are officially done now, and I’m putting away my snowshoes and planting strawberries in my garden. We’ll see you in the back country when winter returns.