Rocco’s new/used Thundershirt, 5$ Craigslist score over the weekend—sporty yet functional, the clingy fabric not only accentuates his chiseled physique, but seems to be helping with the… Read more “june 30, 2020—thunder and fireworks and cars, oh my.”

(author’s note: I wrote this essay shortly before my dad’s death, in 2007; can’t believe I was only 39—I’m 52 now. It’s been hiding in a file on… Read more “june 20, 2020—catching my breath”

The skies are quiet in my neighborhood these days. The incessant throbbing of helicopters have disappeared, the sirens have scaled back to everyday ignorable background crises, the… Read more “June 13, 2020—stay with this”

Weird day today. Not bad, just weird. But aren’t they all some variation on weird lately, even the good ones? 4 months and some odd days alcohol free… Read more “may 9, 2020—walking in the woods”

My husband was a lucky man. Even with smart phone reminders, I still manage to not remember birthdays or anniversaries or hallmark holidays, so I never got… Read more “may 3, 2020—lucky man”

It’s not every day you get to have your birthday smack-dab in the middle of a #&%*ing pandemic (I’m taking this time of isolation and reflection, btw,… Read more “April 29 2020—pandemic parade”

I live next door to my cousin, Erin, and her lovely family in Minneapolis. Last fall, I moved into the apartment where her mom, my beloved Auntie Pattycakes,… Read more “april 28, 2020—your table awaits, madame”

We’re all doing what we must these days (except huffing Lysol, right?), to help flatten a silent, deadly threat that’s creeping across the globe. Still, I hope… Read more “april 26, 2020—southern MN drive by”

I pull into the quasi-empty parking lot mid-afternoon. Still too full for my comfort, at least it’s not log-jammed like every grocery store, uber-Target and co-op in… Read more “april 20, 2020—field notes: grocery shopping in the time of coronavirus”

For someone who’s not a hugger by nature (who truthfully, kinda inwardly flinches when someone boldly announces “I’m a hugger!”), one of the things I miss most… Read more “april 14, 2020—not a hugger”