What Comes Next In five years, I probably won’t be alive. I’m 73 and I’ve already outlived all the men in my family by 10 years. What should I do with that realization? Thank god, I’m not stressed out about…

I am doing a writing class this week with Rachel Howard about Point of View. So my writing will likely be focused on those assignments rather than the prompts. This one is an experiment playing with POV zooming in and…

I am torn. I am somewhat, no more than somewhat, inspired to write a piece that is bubbling, no geiser-ing up for another venue. I am struck. I could easily write that piece right here. But I won’t. And this…

NOTE: These are from the POV of two characters I'm working with. They may mention parts of their stories that you are not familiar with. Alaina: I desire safety. I desire never to see Nicolai again. I desire security--which follows…

The news came in such a fragmentary way that by the time I found out what had happened it felt old and too overlaid by the memories of place it brought up for me. I couldn’t grasp what had occurred…

It would be easy to say that I was wounded long ago. But the wounds are here now. I t would be easy to say that I am just making a visit to an amusement park to visit what we…

Love is the force that creates, the force that can deter, and the force that can destroy. It has evolved, along with our cells, to perpetuate its people, to protect its people, to entertain its people. And yet, when love…

In second year of grad school, the Minnesota winter felt even worse, and I despaired of ever having normal toes again. But, to keep warm, I did not go out and buy new snow boots, which was my usual defense…

The winter practice has fully engaged me in its grip. The anticipation and joy of learning something new or validating a view I already have. The idea of semesters have stayed with me since college. By defining learning time by…

For the bulk of 2022, I had the pleasure of spending the first Saturday (or thereabouts) of each month at Filoli Historic Estate and Garden in Woodside, California, traipsing the grounds and talking with a dear friend. Marisa and I…

“Foxy, look, it’s a fox!” Rachel shouted this morning from the living room window. My wife’s nickname for me is Foxy. I rushed next to her, and followed a pointing finger at a red furry coated animal below the deck,…