Every Saturday morning I take an urban hike around my neighborhood winding through side streets, past parks–still quiet and sleepy, around corners, over uneven sidewalks, through sprinklers casting rainbows on concrete, and up and over this giant hill. Ugh, that hill. It is my nemesis. Looming. Leering at me with it’s steepness. Challenging me to [...]

“…Out of the quarrel with ourselves, we make poetry…” ~W.B.Yeats We spoke about the difference between pain and suffering we agreed how pain is part of the natural order it is inevitable it is a given but suffering, that is a human construct it is unnecessary it is a result of a choice along with [...]

she found her dance once more! and there she found a piece of her soul was healed a piece of her self returned her dance was there—it was always there— in her heart, but she had lost it for a time for a time there in the dark she had trouble finding it behind the [...]

My grandmother kept a wardrobe in her basement (which was actually more like a child’s-dream-playland than it was a regular ol’ basement).  As I type this I inhale deeply catching the faint aroma of cedar lingering in my mind’s olfactory memory.  Gram’s wardrobe was complete with wool coats, fur coats, and other creatures formed into [...]

On the playground you were toast if you ran like a girl In gym class you were picked last if you threw like a girl With the neighbors you were left behind if you were chicken like a girl I was just tryin’ to figure out how to be in this world So I ran [...]

Today I celebrate the entrance into the world of my brand new twin nieces!  I’m so excited and at the same time in awe of the responsibility of having these little people who will be in my life forever from this day forward. I think about my Aunt and the ways she has, and continues [...]

Yep, its true.  I have been gracing the world with my Mavliness for 30 years I wish to thank all of you who’ve made my life possible–whether in grueling labor (and it was people, I was breach!  Guess I always had to do things a little different right from the start), or in teaching ABC’s, [...]

lynne-reid-banks

I am currently reading an amazing book, Miriam’s Kitchen, in which Elizabeth Ehrlich tells her story of rediscovering the rich faith of her heritage.  Her story is inextricably fused with the sights, sounds, and smells of her bubbe’s kitchen and table.  Being an aficionado of all things culinary, reading a book that is not only [...]

I have thoroughly enjoyed the recent trend of self-serve frozen yogurt and help-yourself topping bar that I have seen pop up around Southern California lately.  Today I had a delicious afternoon of kindred conversation with a dear friend while enjoying a tastey frozen treat from Cherry On Top.  When you enter the shop you can [...]