I love to walk. It nourishes me. I'm not a hiker or dirt road walker so walking in Vermont wasn't something I enjoyed because there were no paved roads or sidewalks where I lived. There were no people to interact with along the way. No shops to maybe have a quick look around in. No... Continue Reading →

The reason I had to fly through Amsterdam was because in-cabin pets are not allowed to land in the UK, so the only way to enter is by sea. I had booked a direct flight from Los Angeles to Amsterdam. But there was a problem in LA with my ticket. Apparently, it did not indicate... Continue Reading →

Today I begin a journey and if "journeys are the midwives of thought," as Alain de Boton says in the Art of Travel, then I am ready. I have been, for a long time now, doing: Raising children, caring for the sick and working to support my family. I haven't had much time to think beyond... Continue Reading →

Today there is just beauty to behold.                    

My astrology chart says I have to actualize the my inner strangeness. I have been hiding this part of myself for a long time. But at the tattoo parlor this weekend, I realized that I have to embrace my weird in a different way. As soon as I heard the buzz of the needle, I... Continue Reading →

I've been living in a kind of mental--and emotional--knot. Each day of summer I worked hard, taking small steps, then big steps, to disentangle myself from thirteen years in Vermont. And I did it. It took extreme mental and physical focus. I cried most days. But I filled trash bags, recycling tubs, storage units and... Continue Reading →

When the kids were little, I rarely had time for myself. Most parents of young children know this one. I'd fall asleep every night with one in each arm during books before bed. But as they got older, my children began to have lives of their own outside our little threesome and this meant spurts... Continue Reading →

I'm not really an adventurer.  I prefer to be at home with a book and a cup of tea. I recently saw a mom in our community who said she was following me on Facebook and couldn't believe all the cool adventurous things I've been doing (a lot of travel mostly). I could tell that... Continue Reading →

My youngest child and I have had a push-pull kind of summer. She pushes me away and then pulls me close, then pushes me away, then pulls me close. I'm sure it must be a common mother-daughter dance right before the first year of college begins. I remember it with my older daughter as well.... Continue Reading →

Things not finished, not sorted, not completed. But we're getting close. College visits, applications, decisions, deposits.....deep breath: my youngest child is about to go off into the world. "This is harder for you than when I went to college," my oldest notices. "That was hard too," I say and hug her tight. But this does... Continue Reading →