There’s a stranger in a red t-shirt on the bridge at the crossroads. He doesn’t avoid eye contact like a normal person. He stares into the car, locking eyes with me. I notice the backpack on the ground in front of him. “Pull over,” I tell Bob. I roll down the window. “Are you […]
Quitting time?
I need to quit writing. Or at least quit writing so much. I blame Saoirse for this. Or the voices in my head. I kinda blame Dad. I definitely blame Kate. I get Kate’s message when Bob, the kids and I come out of the woods two weeks ago. We spent 24 hours in sylvan […]
Thoughts at 2am
A driving summer rain rousts us from bed at 2am on Wednesday. It snuffs the fireflies’ lanterns, plunging our twinkling hilltop into darkness as Bob and I scramble to close the windows around the house. He settles back to sleep within seconds. I’m wide awake, fretting about the future of our children. In the course […]
Fellowship
It was the loss of fellowship that set me off. The instant removal of my customers was a siren blaring in my brain, screaming at me that this thing that I can best describe as a spiritual calling — this tiny red cafe high in the hills and far from prosperity — Was suddenly […]
The Lady’s Slipper
“I found a Lady’s Slipper,” Bob rushes into the house. I’m groggy from my nap. Saturday was our first day with outdoor dining service, and with reduced capacity and little traffic, just the two of us handled the dinner shift. But I handled the 3 am baking shift, too. That made it a 20-hour day […]
20: Flag Flying
I received a note from Jessi, who’s farming in West Michigan, asking for my thoughts on how farming/rural living attracts very liberal and very conservative folks. She writes, “I’ve just been processing a lot of thoughts about neighborliness and civility in the face of seeing neighbors show more extremist views and actions during these hard […]
The Red Baron’s Tips for Small Business & Perfect Hollandaise
“That seems like an awful lot of trouble,” Mom stands beside me chopping fresh asparagus from Barbers farm while I make the hollandaise for Sunday dinner. Hollandaise doesn’t happen without mise-en-place. A class of cold water and a plate of cold butter to reverse the egg yolks should they start to turn; butter melted, […]
The Ash Tree
“Remember when Saoirse got stuck in that tree?” Ula’s side nearly splits with laughter recalling that day: her big sister’s hubris as she scaled the giant ash, her embarrassment when she had to call for help. We are alone at the home, standing in front of the mighty ash, the tree that wrapped my daughters’ […]
Essential Kids
“But how will they learn calculus?” I heard that question repeatedly when we started on our homeschooling journey. It was a pre-corona world, where advanced mastery of math and sciences, expansive extra-curricular involvement and stellar test scores were the necessary recipe for the necessary acceptance at that necessary university, which was supposed to unveil the […]
The Unwanted Cake
I’m standing at the kitchen sink, trying to rinse cake frosting from my freshly washed hair, when I realize I have a choice. It all started with Bob’s birthday two days ago. “I don’t want ANYTHING,” he told me a few days earlier. His birthday feels like the first true spring day we’ve had this […]
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