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Toxic Toby is an animatronic bear. Built in Battle Ground, Washington, he now stands vigil on the streets of London, connected to an app that measures air quality. Whenever pollution levels hit a point unsafe for humans, Toby’s little eyebrows flex, and he coughs, paw to mouth. Adorable though he is, he sends a powerful message: The air we need so desperately can contribute to … Continue reading A beary good idea
Soon I will share a story I call “The Weekend of Orange.” It marks the beginning of a journey in which my family discovered that the food we were eating was making our existence untenable. What followed was an overhaul of our eating habits on a path toward healing. More soon … Continue reading “Natural” flavors
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Now that the final edits have been submitted to my publisher … I’m excited to announce that my memoir, The Same Moon, is scheduled to be published in 2019! It’s the story of a young woman from Minnesota who tries to put her life on hold by running off to Japan for a couple of years. (As you might imagine, it didn’t exactly work.) Sometimes … Continue reading The Same Moon — coming in 2019!
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When I was training for my yoga instructor certification, a work colleague asked me to consider offering yoga at our workplace. So began Yoga for Cube Dwellers — 15-minute bursts of yoga that we can do in conference rooms while wearing our work clothes. If you’re ever feeling a bit boxed in at work … or at home … try putting on some gentle music … Continue reading Yoga
Ready to loosen up and re-energize? Set your work aside for 15 minutes of simple yoga stretches and breath-work. (No mats, yoga pants, toe-touching, or pretzel-style twisting required!) Continue reading Yoga for Cube Dwellers
We are downsizing. There. I said it. It feels like a confession. While many people our age are movin’ on up, we’re waving at them as they pass by … from the down escalator. If feels crazy. We live on a lovely two-acre lot with two distinct ecosystems: mossy, lichen-filled woods and a stream in back; sunny landscaped yard in front. We have great neighbors. We have lovely sunsets. We have peace … Continue reading Right-sizing
All too aware that the last week of summer vacation was slipping through our fingers, my son and I hurried about with almost manic energy. We played croquet and Legos, picked tomatoes and beans, and took the dog for walks along a nearby lake. When my son napped, I did laundry, pulled weeds and made lists preparing for the start of school. Then yesterday, for no apparent reason, we came from opposite ends of … Continue reading Summer’s end
When we brought our son home from India at age 3, he was all about the physical world. He wanted to touch everything, his hands darting out every which way to grab objects he saw not just in front of him but in his peripheral vision too. He also wanted to eat everything — even my ultimate challenge: a beet-swiss chard salad sprinkled with feta and topped with balsamic dressing. He devoured … Continue reading The forgotten art of rough-housing
Parents with a difficult child should work toward “appropriate and successful behavior patterns 80 percent of the time … ,” writes Ronald Federici in Help for the Hopeless Child. “Sometimes families expect perfection, which is a totally unrealistic expectation.” I had just stumbled onto this blurb on Amazon, but it stopped me cold. I wondered, had I been putting unrealistic expectations on our son? I have always had … Continue reading Rethinking perfect
I did something new last Sunday: I shouted in church. No, I wasn’t slain in the spirit or anything like that—we’re Washington State Presbyterians (and grew up as Minnesota Lutherans). Sure, now and then someone will punctuate a point in the sermon with an “Amen!,” and a couple of women sometimes sing with their hands lifted high, but our senior pastor likes to joke that our … Continue reading Um! Yah! Yah!
