The orange poppy symbolizes remembrance and the fleeting nature of life My poppies have never been bigger or brighter; their orange petals burst from their pods within days and are now spent. They come up every year in early June, their crepe paper petals so delicate they can be knocked from their stems by a [...]
Eclipse
My mother died on the afternoon of the total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017. I remember the amplified stillness that came over Mom's house where hospice carers came and went. I sat outside, watching for signs of change, distracted by what was happening inside-- listening for Mom, checking the time for the next dose [...]
Kinship
The Hooker Oak in Chico California. Declared the largest oak in the world in 1882 and remains an historical landmark even though the tree no longer stands. It attracted visitors like my great grandmother's sister who took this photo circa 1910. This summer, I went on a road trip with my two sisters to visit [...]
Family Brand
How selling our Saab taught us about change and passing on a legacy.
Off the Clock
How are you measuring time these days? Read about how I am recalibrating time "off the clock."
Reading the Obituaries
Phil and I finally canceled the newspaper subscription. We did it months ago, yet still the paper appeared at the end of the driveway. It was part of the morning ritual for Pepin to "retrieve" it. Some days the sections were strewn across the front yard, leaving Phil to collect the mangled pages. But often [...]
Woman Sees Passage of Time in a Tree
Welcome back to Matriarchy! Read more about how this image spoke to me about the passage of time.
Slough. Shed. Fledge.
Slough. (slŭf) n. An outer layer or covering that is shed or removed. Humans continuously slough skin cells, millions every day. Sometimes I speed up the process by using a little abrasive cleanser to smooth the rough spots, or get a facial at the spa to peel away the tired, dead cells. It feels good [...]
Air Water Earth
Phil and I have been on several weekend road trips lately--to Chisholm for a family memorial service, to Leech Lake for a reunion with dear friends, along with frequent trips to our cabin in Herbster. We like to listen to audiobooks along the way, carrying our minds to distant places, instead of the highway beneath [...]
Grow Your Whole Life Through
I learned a lot about life stages from my friend Jean. She developed several important developmental affirmations over years of study and collaboration with partners in parent education. The affirmations fit all stages of life from infancy to death and have been used by people all over the world. Here are a few: I love [...]
Rare Bird
Just down the shore from our cabin an Arctic Loon was spotted and recorded for the first time in Wisconsin. The South Shore of Lake Superior may not be the place to see birds in great numbers, but often has interesting and rare species. Ryan Brady, an expert birder who works as a conservation biologist for [...]
Tree of Life
I continue to take inspiration from trees--they teach us how to live in different seasons, store resources during dormant periods, clean the air and water around us, model longevity and growth. Read about the wisdom I found in Suzanne Simard's search for the mother tree.
Matriarch Remake
Changes come when we end and begin. I am ready to grow into this next stage of life in retirement.
Portrait of a Matriarch
Today as I ride along the familiar route to Abbott Northwestern Hospital, I think of all the times I have bumped along the potholes of 28th Street, turned left on 10th Avenue, entered the ramp and circled the dark floors to park, find the floor and suite where we were expected. There was a Tuesday [...]
Dreamy Sleep
Having trouble sleeping? Me too. Read about some of the science of sleep and practical tips that might help.
Am I a Modern Elder?
Are you a modern elder? And what does that mean exactly? Read about a midlife wisdom school and preparing for retirement.
Nana Who?
"With the words, You are a grandmother... I became something different than I'd ever been before." Anna Quindlen from Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting by Anna Quindlen At Orchestra Hall with Louis to hear Cantus sing with Sweet Honey in the Rock, 2017. For the first time, my husband (aka Papa) and I (Didi) took care [...]
Swim Flight
In a dream I dive off a pier into a lake. I am not a strong swimmer, but today I dive with ease, surface quickly and skim along the water’s surface like Olympic racers do, in a rhythm that is easy and strong, fast and even. I can see fish and plant life below the [...]
Containing Grief
My parents died of cancer, mom (in 2017) just 8 weeks after diagnosis and Dad (in 2014) after being sick for a year. And over these last few years, I have been a student of grief, hungry for ways to express it in a healing way, to seek out others to give me a “how [...]
Foraging
One of my little rituals while at the cabin is to fill three small vases with the blooms and greens I gather from my first walk. I grab my scissors and walk the yard, driveway and road ditches. I guess you could say I forage for flora. Flora is the plant life of a particular [...]
Sorrow to Joy in Line at Trader Joe’s
"Franceso Bought Me Flowers," a true act of care and kindness I won't forget.
An Earlier Spring
I know the trip will set me back a couple of weeks in spring-time when I watch the green recede with each mile we travel north. But I am happy to go back to an earlier spring. I know how short lived it is.
Life keeps rolling, and the kids are out in front, it’s me that has to catch up.
Kids with happy faces on bikes, riding ahead. Mom peddling to catch up. That is what parenting feels like, always a little out in front. Sometimes you need to stop and trust that things will be okay.
Forest Bathing
Friluftsliv “open air living” is the desire to be in nature. The Japanese call it shinrin-yoku “taking in the forest atmosphere” or “forest bathing.” I first heard of this concept in a yoga class. We were asked to gaze out the window and find a tree in the near distance and study it while in [...]
Growth Rings
I want to grow like a tree-stretch my branches to reach higher, and my roots probing deeper with understanding.
I’ll Take Grace Too
You can have the other words - chance, luck, coincidence, serendipity. I'll take grace, I don't know what it is exactly, but I'll take it." -Mary Oliver
Calendar/Diary/Journal?
January. The month for getting organized, eating right, hitting the gym and starting something new. I thought I was ready to skip the paper and rely on my iphone to keep my important dates, even send little reminders and be in electronic sync with others. I also read about "bullet journals" a hybrid between a [...]
Birder
My love of birds is a generational gift received and now passed down.
Finding Light in Darkness
We have gained 8 hours of light since my last post. We are now in the season of Spring/Winter in Minnesota. A time of lengthening daylight, birdsong, mud, crusty snow, state basketball tournaments, first burgers on the grill, bicyclists’ return to gritty streets, walks after dinner, and the first chives poking up. Daylight savings time [...]
Carrying the Light
Imagine the sweet scene of children leading us in the darkness holding small flames to light the night.
Wild Abandon
What is your relationship to risk? Read about how Title IX; then and now shaped my experience of physical challenge.
Matriarchy 