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Our Furry Girls
Did I mention we got a new kitten? Meet June Carter Cash the Kitty. She has several other names: Junie, June Bug, and just Bug. My five year old usually calls her by her full name. We also have this 11 year old cat named Nala. She’s not a huge fan of June, but she’s hanging in there and is enjoying sneaking June’s kitten chow whenever she gets a chance. We give Nala a break at night and whenever we…
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Raven Rock State Park
This past weekend, Joe and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. At the pool this evening, a friend asked me if we had done anything, and before I could answer, the kids chimed in, “Yes, we did! We had fireworks with friends and went hiking …” We gave each other knowing looks. In kids’ minds, “we” is all of us. On Saturday, we went hiking at Raven Rock State Park. It was Joe’s idea, and we had just bought ourselves…
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Creating an Empire
One of my earliest, most vivid memories is of a field trip I took to Mrs. Hampton’s house, my first and second grade teacher. Her father had constructed an elaborate network of concrete and cobble ditches through the woods for her when she was a child, and there was a beautiful greenhouse. I don’t remember many details except for the magic I felt in that place and wishing I could play there forever. We’ve lived in this house in downtown…
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Excellence in Mediocrity
Recently the opportunity was put before me to have a presence in an on-campus teaching setting. I thought about it, I really did. I imagined getting to know students, the environment I’d try to foster, the potential to invest in young people. I even went so far as to consider whether I’d allow music in the lab and if I’d show up with cookies — I’m truly embarrassed now for disclosing that last bit. And then, before I had…
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Deep Winter
It is deep winter, or as deep as it gets in the Piedmont, and yesterday we got a strange yet wonderful lag in the cold after a week of no school. We drove off to a location not far out of town, a future park development site Joe wanted to visit. We arrived and walked down an old two-lane road, half grown over with the encroaching forest floor and recently blanketed in ice, giving way to sun and slush. The…
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Big Wheels Peace Accord
This morning I’m sitting on the couch, drinking coffee, and listening to the boys upstairs playing with some new action figures. The tension between the two of them has been through the roof the past couple weeks, so hearing them playing together does my heart good. Sometimes the struggle of parenthood is managing to equip children with conflict resolution tools while the bullets are flying… at each other and at you as the parent. Sometimes I succumb to the chaos…
