The Faery Woods

I love to hike in the woods. Before Cait was born, Kiera-1 and I’d take off and be gone the whole day– I’d pack a lunch, bring a book to read, carry some water, and we’d be set — just her and me in the middle of nature. There was nothing I loved more.

The first time I tried to take Cait hiking with me, she was just four. It was an abysmal failure. I’d made the mistake of forcing her to come even after she’d refused several times. The only thing it accomplished was to make Cait afraid of bears, though we saw no wildlife to speak of.

I had to do a lot of back-peddling just to get back to […]

By |2016-10-24T09:57:00-04:00November 30th, 2006|.Cait and Me, .My Favorites, Nature|9 Comments
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Counting by Halves

There are two times in life when we count by halves. One is when we’re under the age of ten, and we’re half way between one birthday and the next. We’re still young enough for it to feel as though a year stretches on forever. So making it a whole six months more is worthy of being marked and counted. “I’m six and a half!” says my friend’s daughter with great pride. I’m excited for my friend’s daughter, because I remember.

The other time when we count by halves is after a loved one has died. Time slows back down to a crawl, as the days stretch on into weeks, and then into months. It feels as though that first year’s […]

By |2007-02-03T22:28:28-05:00November 27th, 2006|.My Favorites, Life|4 Comments
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Buffalo Girls

One of the last books I read just before Caitlin was born, almost eleven years ago now, was Larry McMurtry’s Buffalo Girls . How do I know that for certain? Because in that book is the chorus to the song, Buffalo Girls. It goes:

Buf-falo Girls won’t you come out to-night,

come out to-night, come out tonight,

Buf-falo Girls won’t you come out to-night,

and dance by the light of the moon.

And why would that chorus be memorable to me? Because in those early sleep-deprived days, when Cait’s idea of a long nap was 10 minutes, that was the only song, of all the songs I sang to her, that […]

By |2016-10-24T09:57:02-04:00October 26th, 2006|.Cait and Me, .My Favorites|4 Comments
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Kiera on Duty

KieraDuty Kiera sits as sentry, while Cait and I get ready for a little stargazing before shut-eye. No amount of coaxing will get her to join us in the tent. Her self-appointed job is to periodically patrol the perimeters of our property.

Good thing she’s safely fenced in and other critters fenced out, because we live on a little corner of the wild kingdom. Cait and I sleep well knowing that she’s on the job.

By |2016-10-24T09:57:02-04:00October 3rd, 2006|.Cait and Me, .My Dogs and Me, .My Favorites|0 Comments
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Art is Everywhere

Caitlin does a wonderful job of taking care of her kitten, Finnegan. (I still can’t get over that my daughter has turned out to be a cat person rather than a dog person…) Except for one thing. She’s not loving cleaning the litter box, and so needs to be reminded.

When I ask her this morning, she replies that she hasn’t. I suggest that she take care of it, while it’s still fresh on her mind.

She starts walking out of the room to do it, hesitates, turns and says, “Mom, you know that Finnegan is quite an artist.”

“Yeah, what’s his canvas?” I ask.

“His litter box,” Cait says. “I’ve found all kinds of incredible shapes and images.”

“Really,” I reply, thinking that’s the […]

By |2018-01-01T11:53:52-05:00September 30th, 2006|.Cait and Me, .My Favorites, Funnies|13 Comments
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Dolphin Dreams

Cait and Basa

A couple of years back, Cait was facing some difficult changes. No amount of putting a happy face on how it would all work out made a dent. She was focused on the loss and the feeling that she couldn’t control what was happening to her. I watched my happy-go-lucky, optimistic daughter turn into a despondent worrier.

Having spent my professional adulthood looking deeply into people’s lives, I fully understood how, sometimes, it only took one life event to cause a sea change in one’s world view. A feeling of powerlessness wasn’t a belief I wanted my daughter internalizing.

As adults, we all know the expression “Attitude is everything” is an […]

By |2019-06-07T22:46:56-04:00August 25th, 2006|.Cait and Me, .My Favorites|4 Comments
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