Have you ever fallen asleep on the job? I have! How tired do you need to be to fall asleep on a tree?

Happy New Year 2022 Movie Review

Horse Lessons. Saying goodbye to beautiful things.

Two years ago this week, I took a trip to Colorado’s Storm King Mountain that I’d been dreading for 25 years… 

You know you live in the country when your neighbor offers you fresh mountain lion scat…

Book Review of a great read set in France during World War II.

Last Thursday I did something unusual; I invited an older couple over for dinner. I was sitting next to them (6 feet apart) at a meeting when I felt prompted to just do it…

Anxiety rises within when I turn on the news to see or hear of thousands of people flooding over the border. Can our economic system sustain the help they’ll need to start their new life? Will crime rates rise? How will this “border crisis” affect my life?

My husband and I always try for leaner meals through the month of January. It’s a good way to balance the excesses of December. This year it was easy to cut sweets for a time since we felt the lingering loss of appetite from the Covid virus. It also helped that we couldn’t smell…

On Day 5 of suffering through Covid, I laid in bed with just enough brain wavelengths for a bittersweet memory. My thoughts had drifted 25 years back to my friend Tom. I met him when I needed a farrier to trim my horses’ hooves.

Every night when I let my brave little dog out to pee, I’d open the door to the darkness where killing coyotes lurked. She drew herself up, big as she could, with hackles raised, to launch herself into the unknown. Announcing her presence to the enemy, she’d offer three of her fiercest barks. As if to say, “Here I am. I’m not afraid.”

Some nights on the fire line, when the fire laid down and we finished digging line, we’d take a break. One such night we sat with our backs to the embers, mining our packs for snacks. By my watch, it was two am. Eating helped us stay awake, but so did interesting stories.

“So, who’s up for Truth or Dare?” someone asked.

We travelled to our Prineville rental last spring with my sister-in-law, nephews and niece for a weekend away. I intended to take my nephews to visit the Hotshot memorial. It’s dedicated to the 9 Prineville Hotshots and 5 other firefighters caught in a firestorm on Storm King Mountain at Colorado’s South Canyon Fire. That fire was 27 years ago, but I made a vow not to forget.