A predictable post, I suppose, considering that I'm a California girl at the commencement of her first winter in Norway. For California kids, certain Christmas songs and lore carry a different kind of mystique. Not only Irving Berlin's White Christmas , but also Jingle Bells , Winter Wonderland , and Frosty the Snowman…
Diz & The Santa Hat
Seven years ago I was an undergrad at UC Davis, living in Livermore, California with my husband of four months, and I was a first-time mom to an itty-bitty kitty named Disney. Since then, many things have changed. I'm a graduate student at Lesley University, and I'm living in Oslo,…
Bonds. They're necessary.
I don't want anyone out there to think I'm the only writer in my family. My grandmother was a wiz with words, regularly stomping on us all in Scrabble competitions, and she wrote about our family history and genealogy. My mom writes professional emails so lengthy and comprehensive, I'm sure…
What I've been writing...
My mind might be breaking. I'm pretty sure I heard it crack yesterday. The office was silent except for the tapping of my fingers on the keyboard. I paused. I considered all the writing I'd done the days before and all the writing I had yet to do. And my…
A Wedding Ceremony Reading: Love is all in the look.
My best friend recently got married. I was Matron of Honor (or Best Woman, as the bride and I both prefer). Cindy and I have been friends for thirteen years, almost half our lifetime, and I know her better than many. Helping her plan things from half a world away…
What I love about Halloweentime
On September 22, Jonathan and I joined the rest of Oslo in celebrating the Autumnal Equinox. We followed the crowds down to the Akerselva River walk in Grünerløkka, and snapped photos all along the way . Night lowered itself over the city, flooding the winding river canal with shadows. Colorful light…
The Stuff of my Life
Our last perfect weather day was last Thursday. I took the bus to Lysaker to drop something at Jonathan's office and afterward I took a walk. The water gulped against the wood and stone side of the pier below me. I was thirty feet up on a flat, grassy space…
A Pebble of Quartz is Gleaming: A Craft Annotation
I will be haunted by John Haines 's The Stars, the Snow, the Fire for many years to come. The ease (or grace) with which he handled the brutality of hunting and trapping lulled me into a deceptive calm, but his imagery was too graphic to pass by without a…