ALL OF THE THINGS

Christmas Eve Cookies

A tradition started with Ezra that I intend to carry on for years to come. A simple sugar cookie dough made on Christmas Eve morning. Chilled for the afternoon. Baked and decorated in the evening. We will have a few with hot cocoa, leave several out for the man with the bag, and take the [...]

A Whole New Land

Of all the soil that my feet have landed upon and of all the air I’ve breathed... Whether across the Atlantic or the Pacific, over or under, amongst mountain and wood, brick and neon, or sand and sea... I often feel the journey that has most ignited my mind and unleashed my heart has happened [...]

A Full Heart Breaking

“What if the water touches you, Mama? What if you get wet?” He stands cautiously to my right, where seaweed has been tossed and left behind. “Sometimes you have to get close to get the good stuff.” I stand up brushing sand off of my knees. Staring out at a mass of churning grey against [...]

‘Tis the season

Christmas songs are floating around the room. I keep realigning my thoughts. Focus. Look at the joy. Jingle bells and twinkling lights. Cast your cares. I hang the stockings. Feel this. Let go of the rest of the world. Little Drummer Boy begins. My mind feels like it’s being torn in ten directions. . I [...]

Nothing wasted

Were there voices trying to tell your story before you even had ears to hear it? And as you grew, did the volume of lies, half truths, and imagined details grow right alongside? . Did your mother turn off the sound and whisper with her heart that you were a gift of worth; coming into [...]

One of us

A woman looked at you in your stroller and her eyes jumped up to mine. “Wow, you’re brave for taking such a little one along.” . I politely smiled. Nodding toward Ezra, I said “I once did the same with him when he was even younger.” . Her face said that maybe she thought you [...]

Soak

Soak. Rest. Breathe. The water was rushing out, the bubbles were rising. Stepping into the warmth; I tried to remember the last time I had felt this. Nothing came to mind. . I peeled open a book. In the steam, the words seem to rise off the page. I seemed to drift with them. One [...]

Goodness

“Some day these will be the good ol’ days.”, someone says. . These are the good ol’ days. Now. Right now. They are good now. . But I forget. . Tires spinning in mud. I’m spinning another bedtime story. Quietly, rubbing my eyes, I creep out of the room. . Now where was I? Folding. [...]

Born to be

Yesterday, we were leaving the store as the sun was beginning to set. The sky was awash with apricot. The thin black lines and fans of palm trees contrasted in the glow. I pointed it out to Ezra. We stood for a moment staring up at it. And then seemingly out of nowhere, Ezra said, [...]

Line & light

It’s far too rare a sight! We don’t take many pictures together. Most of our moments are in the cracks of sunlight that bookend a day. They are in the early morning, sleepy goodbye. And the hectic hello of evening routine; the drawing of bedtime bath water and the making of dinner, while the last [...]