One late-summer evening, I sat alone atop the world, as a breeze chilled the night and tussled my hair, watching the sun fall beyond the horizon. Far below, cars rushed past on the highway. Unseen on my clifftop perch, I watched and wondered where they were headed. What adventures each pursued. Going camping? Visiting a loved one? Running from the law? This guy in the white BMW fancies himself an F1 driver racing up the hills of the Belgian Grand Prix, weaving in and out, passing everyone, safety be damned. The grey-green Wrangler, coated in thick red mud spent the day off-roading near one of the mountain lakes. Frightened its fair share of mule deer, elk, and a family of racoons, too, as it rumbled through the woods kicking up dirt and rutting the waterlogged backroads, soaked by recent rains. But, nature got its revenge — as told by the […]

Contains strong, self-absorbed language. Unapologetic, rambling thoughts. Inelegant stream of consciousness stuff. You’ve been warned… The past year and a half has been brutal. Filled with suffocating sadness, heartbreak, and paralyzing confusion. Anger. Pain. Exhaustion. Isolation. Most days lived for others, to help them land somewhere on the spectrum of okayness. Still, all that I have to give is never enough. Indeed, I am no Atlas, and the strain of holding up the sky took a toll. A back injury. A sprained shoulder. A broken hand. Sleepless nights. Disturbed dreams. Lost thoughts. The goal: survive until tomorrow and tomorrow again. For a spell, I wondered daily when the breakdown was going to come. Not the kind where you bawl your eyes out in the shower and blame the redness on wayward shampoo. Nor the kind where you scream into a pillow so the neighbors don’t call the cops. Not even the kind […]

“Goodbye,” she whispered into the wind. And as she turned to walk away, the leaves fluttered and swirled around her like confetti, the sun warmed her face, and she knew he would be with her, always.

Ever have times when days, weeks, and months zoom by faster than you can blink, and when you look back on them, you wonder “What did I actually accomplish?!” Yeah, me too. It’s way too easy to be hard on ourselves for the things we didn’t check off our to-do lists and feel like “I got NOTHING done!” when in reality, we’ve accomplished quite a lot. So, here’s my personal reality check, to remind myself what I have accomplished: Saw a fun Super Summer Theatre production of “Noises Off” by Poor Richard’s Players at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park. Wrote a couple drafts of the first part of my Communication MA capstone. Did some hiking in the Superstition Wilderness area. Celebrated a very special friend’s birthday. Completed one class, and began the next. Took the kiddos on a five-day road trip through Arizona, Nevada, and California to: Lake Mead National […]

Once upon a time (this is, after all, the way proper tales begin), there lived a girl, deep in a secluded wood, far away from the world, surrounded by the tallest of the tall trees. Her eyes were the cool grey-blue color of the rocks where she sat to daydream, and her hair, the color of the tiny field mouse which lived beneath her favorite oak tree. Each day, she wandered into the great clearing where sunlight found its way, filtered through needles and leaves, to the forest floor, and dappled the mossy carpet. There, she danced in the breeze to the music of the fluttering leaves, and sat watching the busyness all around her. The flowers and mushrooms made her smile, and the tickly crawling bugs, going about their day, kept her company. She was… content… in her little world. Then, one day… “Hellooo-oh.” She looked up, and before […]