Boise Idaho is bearing up under record-breaking conditions this week. We have more snow on the ground than EVER. (Well, at least the "ever" that dates from 1875 when someone started measuring.) We have wind-chill warnings for -25F and more snow on the way, possibly to be followed next week by rain, of all things, … Continue reading 2017: A Year for Reading Rihla
Tag: Travel
Travels with Toots
Toots is the teddy bear I've had since I was a year old. Well, we've always called him a teddy bear, though his actual shape is sort of open to interpretation... He's had several face-lifts in that time (in fact, he had a whole "body-lift" a couple years ago after a dog got to him and … Continue reading Travels with Toots
Christmas Redux, Christmas Remix
Three years ago I took my kids (Elena Grace & Christian, then 9 & 12) up to my parents' house for Christmas. It was the first time in over a decade that I had been "home" for Christmas, and we resurrected every Christmas tradition I had grown up with. We baked my grandma's famous vanilla-apricot … Continue reading Christmas Redux, Christmas Remix
Death of a Salesman(‘s Commission)
We all know---don't we?---the demographic that comprises full-time RV-ers... They sport hearing aids and golf pants and live in Arizona or Florida half the year. Once again, it's time to challenge my assumptions. When Jon and I moved into this RV park in February, I was surprised to find two-thirds of the sites occupied by … Continue reading Death of a Salesman(‘s Commission)
Entering the Lists
My notebook is bent, battered, and buckled, every kind of abused but bruised. The covers crease from frequent folding, and tags & stickies protrude from its pages. I've had it for all of three weeks. The notebook serves as a journal, but it its pages have also filled with sketches, blog-post brainstorms, A.A. Stepwork, notes from group sessions and church sermons, quotes and definitions … Continue reading Entering the Lists
If God Acts as Travel Agent, Don’t Argue the Itinerary
I dreamed last night that I was back in Safe Haven, the psych-facility where I recently spent ten days, and the dream felt comforting. The place is well named. My cell phone was one of the things I missed most in there---not for calls, but for Google (I hadn't realized how many things-a-day I look … Continue reading If God Acts as Travel Agent, Don’t Argue the Itinerary
Addendum to a Eulogy
Yesterday my dad should have turned seventy. He passed away this year on my birthday, so this weekend we've been missing him on his. Ironically, I could still practice my favorite joke-ritual, which was not to call my dad (whose depth of phone-phobia was rivaled only by my sister's and my own) on his birthday. I … Continue reading Addendum to a Eulogy
Kana's Chronicles 