Blog Posts
When I looked down and realized that I was twice the height of the treetops, my stomach flip-flopped … my head started to spin. I could hardly manage to hold onto the steel ladder leading straight up to the fire tower lookout. I was in northern Wisconsin with some friends (in my early 20s). They’d…
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The Chicago wind slapped my face as I stepped out of the dentist’s office on Valentine’s Day in 1988. I’d just finished my first root canal and had no plans for a romantic evening … or any romantic prospects on the horizon. It was 3 pm and I felt lousy. Instead of returning to work,…
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Instead of checking my email before work, I called my mom to wish her happy birthday. When I walked into the office, I could tell something was odd. My boss walked past me without greeting or eye contact. Looking out at the sea of cubicles, I noticed that everyone had their heads down. I felt…
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In the third installment of my travel series, we have some new runes to contemplate, as well as a hike … that didn’t go as planned. June 25, 2022: Inguz, Laguz, and Raido Runes We woke on Saturday morning in a charming AirBNB rental, called the Rainbow Cabin in Nederland, CO. Once a bustling mining…
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The second installment of the travel series starts with the first leg of my 2022 road trip with my husband and flashes back to the story about my canoe trip in 1978, which was introduced in my last post. Sowulo Rune, June 21, 2022 The sun lit the night sky late into the evening of the…
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Today, the Summer Solstice 2022, I woke up in Champerlain, SD, the first leg of a 2-week road trip with our teardrop camper. Welcoming the longest day of the year and excited about finishing the day at a campsite in the Black Hills, I find myself reflecting on a travel story from a vacation I…
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The Winter Solstice is the time of ending and beginning, a powerful time–a time to contemplate your immortality. A time to forgive, to be forgiven, and to make a fresh start. A time to awaken. —Traditional Yule Prayer
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All of Abby’s pent-up excitement about becoming a big sister evaporated when she first met her baby sister, Eleanor, in our birthing suite. She pouted and didn’t want to touch her sister or talk about the baby. Later, when her dad took her back to the car, Abby declared, “I am a big sister now!”…
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I Was Laying on the Living Room Couch On a gloomy day, November 22, 1963, in La Crosse, WI, I was home from school sick. My mom had to pick me up from school. Even though kids were not allowed to lounge on the living room furniture, she settled me on the couch and returned…
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