Polar Nights and Northern Lights of Tromsø
Since I was a child listening to my mother’s stories about the boats that would weave their way through the fjords to bring letters and necessary goods to little towns and villages up north where Santa lived, I have wanted to visit northern Norway. This Christmas, I did.
Meditation in Snow and Silence
On this bitterly cold day across most of the United States, I come to you from Bergen, Norway, where I am spending the Christmas holiday with family.
One Christmas while in the Colorado mountains, I was overwhelmed by the season – too much emphasis on buying the next big thing for gifts, frantically shopping, cooking, sending out cards, and ensuring everything was perfect. I took a walk in the woods to clear my head and breathe. I thought I’d reshare this post I wrote when I emerged from that walk.
The Land of Trolls and Apple Cake
A delicious traditional Norwegian Apple Cake recipe from my mother’s homeland. The land of trolls, fjords, and apple cake.
China leaving
The vacuum rolled across the wood floor with ease, picking up the last remnants of China. Little black balls of fur that I so often cursed, I now looked upon with gut-ripping love. As each tuft was sucked into the bag of dust and dead bugs, I began to cry with more...
Annie
She was from a different era, when people were polite and grounded. She had three children, and I was married to one of them. Having her as my mother-in-law was a gift. Annie (Anna Shillo), was a no nonsense woman who was practical, warm, deeply loving and she was...
To Be a Mother
Here’s the deal, my “kid” is thirty-three years old, and in my heart, he still needs me, and yet, in reality, I know he really only needs me on rare occasions. It’s our job as parents to raise confident and capable people who we then must let go of and set free into...
Blessings
With all of the pretty pictures we see on social media expressing visions of lives perfected to that of extreme luxury, adventure, travel, friendship, family and love so accomplished as to look flawless, remember that most of it is simply an illusion. We only allow...
Grabbed #MeToo
“What is the big deal?” I hear so many of you ask. It’s a big deal because it harms women like me. It opens up a painful, gaping wound that took so long to heal. It hurts because those who say it’s nothing worse than raunchy banter are, at the end of the day,...
Climbing Mountains and Slaying Dragons
One foot in front of the other we trekked our way up the narrow path where the Aspen trees rustled in the breeze creating a sound somewhere between water running down a stream and that of a joyful musical instrument. We hiked under this canopy of whispering leaves...
In Defense of Aging
I’m fifty-five years old, and I have nothing injected in my face or elsewhere at this time. There was indeed a time in my life when I did get Botox around my eyes, but I thought it made me look strange. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not judging. People should do what works for them concerning cosmetic surgery and procedures. I’m not at all against having work done if it’s something they’d like to do. I know many women who get Botox and fillers who look amazing and are thrilled with the results. I don’t want society dictating how I should look one way or another, and any sort of looks/age/weight shaming, or any shaming for that matter, is just wrong.
Fishers Island Wedding
She looked like a dream, as we all knew she would. A culmination of all her life experiences, positive and challenging, leading her to this joyful moment. She was a picture of all that is good – smart, healthy, confident and truly kind. So we gathered to watch her...
…and now the world changes
“…and now the world changes”. They were words that hung in the air, heavy and solemn. My friend let me know that his wife was fine and not in Paris where they have a second home. During dinner with a couple the evening before, I joyfully blurted out “Christmas and New...
Singing in the Rain
We were running down the middle of the street, me with my soaking wet dress hiked up above my knees with one hand and my father, holding onto my dog, China’s leash, water splashing up his legs each time his foot hit the hot, wet asphalt. By the time we saw my husband,...
Cinnamon Honey Raisin Bread
I stood on a stool at the kitchen counter inside her English Tudor style home in Brentwood, California. She looked like Catherine Deneuve - ultra feminine, with a translucent English complexion, vivid blue eyes, with a petite and perfect figure. She had an incredibly...
Chocolate Chip Cookie
I was walking towards the end of the dock when she ran up behind me and said with great pride, “I have sixteen boo-boos on my legs” and then the six-year-old or so, jumped off the dock, water-wings and all. I was a sissy and lowered myself down the ladder – glacier...
The Privilege of Parenthood and Omelets
It’s hard to imagine myself being a more proud mother. Last night my son missed his flight connection while trying to get to San Francisco from New York. The snow in New York had him delayed for hours, so when he arrived in Denver in the middle of the night, his...
Ten Years
My eyes fluttered open at four o’clock in the morning and I found myself waking to the awareness of the brevity of life, my mortality and the mystery of it all. A slightly uncomfortable feeling washed over me, a sadness. It was then that I remembered that it was the...
Andalusia & The White Hill Villages
From Seville, we rented a car and drove through the Andalusian Mountains, visiting a couple of the White Hill Villages. The color of the green grass covering the rolling mountains was almost unreal looking, as was the crisp blue sky; everywhere we looked we saw a...
Norwegian Gløgg
Every holiday season, my mother would make a Scandinavian drink called Gløgg. A traditional Christmas spiced drink in Norway, it is loaded with brandy, port and red wine. Now that my mother is gone, it is holiday tradition that my brother and I carry on and share with...
Like Diamonds in the Sky ~ Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
Last week I made a quick trip to Santa Fe. When I heard that the Albuquerque balloon fiesta would be going on while I was there, I knew it was something I had to see. A couple of friends joined me on the early expedition - up at 4:45 AM and out the door at 5:00AM....