It is Thanksgiving, and we are down in Berkeley celebrating with family and extended family and extensions of the extensions of the family.

Yesterday one of the writers in our local paper said that they have a saying in her family: No whining on the yacht.

Compared to so many in the world, we are indeed traveling on the yacht. But for the chances of birth, we could be in the leaky rowboat or clinging to the last floating bit of the sinking ship.

So much to be thankful. So little to whine about.

My travels continue…

But first, two more images from the trip to California.

Last Friday, Lee and I flew in the little airplane from Tigard to San Luis Obispo. It was raining in Oregon, and got colder as we flew higher, and we had ice on the wings. See picture below…you maybe have to look carefully, but trust me, that is ice on the wings.

It looks kind of pretty–impressionistic, so to speak. It is just as well that I was busy working on my workshop presentation for the Vermont College residency, so I didn’t know anything about this until we were [Continue reading On the Road...]

If it’s summer, we must be at another wedding.

I am right now in San Luis Obispo, California where we have all come together for the wedding of Nicholas’s best friend, Ian Anderson. See earlier post on best friends, and think on this. Nicholas and Ian met in the four-year old class at preschool in 1984. And even though they went to different elementary schools and different middle schools, they have been friends ever since. Which is, I think, both amazing and encouraging and, well, just kind of lovely.

This is a picture of Nicholas and Ian at what must be Nicholas’s [Continue reading Wedding Season...]

You would think after 34 years of marriage, you would know everything there was to know about another person. But…no. It turns out they can always surprise you.

I have always known that Lee is a complex guy with many and varied interests. I’ve also known that he does have a tendency to become just a tad obsessional, and over the past many years I have seen him avidly pursue computers, model airplanes, amateur astronomy, the Oregon part of the Pacific Crest Trail and, of course, the airplane. None of this, however, prepared me to have him suddenly take up the [Continue reading And One More Celebration…....]

It is June 21st. A day with much to celebrate.

On this day, two years ago, Nicholas and Kristin were married. It is a wonderful thing to see your children find happiness. Happy anniversary, guys.

But today is also the solstice, the longest day of the year, Midsummer’s Eve.

In 1980 Lee and I lived in France, in Marseilles. As in many European countries, they build huge bonfires to celebrate the solstice–although really it is the feast of St. John the Baptist they are celebrating. Which is really June 24. And I think the picture below was actually taken on June 23, so [Continue reading Happy Day...]

Apparently kids are no longer allowed to have best friends.

According to an article in yesterday’s New York Times–that would be Thursday, June 17–having a best friend is a bad thing. At least for school administrators.  “…  the classic best-friend bond…signals potential trouble for school officials intent on discouraging anything that hints at exclusivity, in part because of concerns about cliques and bullying.” The article quotes a director of counseling at a school in St. Louis: “I think it is kids’ preference to pair up and have that one best friend. As adults–teachers and counselors–we try to encourage them not to [Continue reading Best Friends Forever...]

I spent the weekend working on the end of semester evaluations for my two VCFA students. Always a bittersweet experience.

I went over the work the students sent me during the semester–just a quick glance because sometimes I think, “Gee. What did we do this semester?” January seems so long ago, especially when you’re counting time in pages read and characters met. What can I say about our semester together and what we both learned? Because, yes, I always learn something, too.

Sometimes, I admit, I am at a bit of a loss to try to encapsulate what I tried to teach [Continue reading A Learning Experience...]

Our neighbor down the street has a beautiful rose garden in her front yard. She has in fact won prizes in the Portland Rose Festival rose growing competition. (I’m sure it has some official name that sounds better than “rose growing competition.”) But every year about this time she puts up umbrellas–why? To protect the blossoms from the rain? It can’t be to protect them from the sun. We haven’t had any sun for days and days. At any rate, at this time of year, instead of growing roses, she grows umbrellas.

It seems to me this should be the beginning [Continue reading Umbrella Garden...]

I had a dream a couple of nights ago. I know, I know. You should never start a story with a dream. And I’m sure it’s a bad idea to start a blog with a dream, too. But, well, bear with me. I do have a point.

In this dream I was making chocolate chip cookies. As I was stirring the dough in a big bowl, I was thinking how nice the green and red peppers looked. I was thinking how they added such a nice touch of color, and I was thinking how pretty the cookies would look when they [Continue reading Cookie Dreams...]