Weddings

There is a "let down" when a wedding is over, the thing that has consumed your every waking moment for months is done.  The venue is cleaned, the lights returned, family  gone. You find yourself suddenly alone and exhausted.  The worry that kept you up at night slips away, you spend the next two nights … Continue reading Weddings

Harry Potter

So I heard on the news that "Harry Potter" was 20 years old yesterday!  It made me think of my Harry Potter story...... My dad was getting married, and a wedding guest and friend of his new wife was Terry Brooks ("Sword of Shannara"). We were very excited to meet him because he had just … Continue reading Harry Potter

Birthdays

One year ago. I boarded a plane in the morning, switched off my phone and read a book. It had been weeks of wondering and waiting, so I decided.... "The heck with it, I am going down there NOW!" I made a reservation the next morning, and now found myself sitting on the plane, headed … Continue reading Birthdays

Sunday Football

It is Sunday, which means a family pancake breakfast, maybe even with bacon, always with orange juice.  After our breakfast off to church.  Sometimes, sometimes we don't bother, there were months and years that we didn't bother, instead, we laze around a bit, perhaps make a half-hearted attempt at the homework we have put off.  … Continue reading Sunday Football

Teacher Appreciation Week

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, there was a FB post that asked “friends” to list all the teachers you could remember.   I remember my first grade teacher, Mrs. Alt. That is all I remember, her name, desks in rows. Lining up to use the bathroom. I remember throwing up in a book I was … Continue reading Teacher Appreciation Week

Home

Mist obscured mountains.  Shades of gray.  Pinpoints of treetops, water slate, sky slate.  This is home. A ferry cuts through the water, bright lights in the darkening sky. Trollers home from a long day at sea, headed for the marina, the dark shore across the narrows.  Lights from the docks beckon. It is time now … Continue reading Home

Hiraeth

A few years ago a cousin of mine posted a meme of a vocabulary word on Facebook. Hiraeth: A homesickness for a home which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for lost places in your past. I almost didn't read it, but when I did, it … Continue reading Hiraeth

Camping, Finch Family Style

Whenever a picture of Pioneer Peak floats across my FB feed, I get an instant, kick-in-the-gut shot of nostalgia.  There are few things that make me miss home like that mountain does. Knife edged peaks, seemingly snow-capped year round, thrusting straight up from the valley floor. Warm mellow light of an autumn sun painting the … Continue reading Camping, Finch Family Style

Ocean View

(This was published earlier, but wanted to get my writing on one site) Last September I returned home, to Anchorage, for the sad occasion of my sister’s funeral. Over the week, as my family gathered we toured our remembered favorites. Lunch at the Roadrunner and ordered an Alaska Banquet of course – my grown up … Continue reading Ocean View

Teacups

Afternoons with my grandmother were spent sipping tea.  Hot tea, no matter the weather. Tea from delicate, beautiful and oh-so-fragile teacups.  A cube or two of sugar, the lovely sound of metal ag… Source: Teacups