When planning my trip to New Orleans, several people suggested visiting a plantation. Oak Alley, an hour outside the city, was of particular interest because of its 300-year-old alley of McDonogh oaks. More than that, though, I felt a trip was important because it would provide a glimpse into the antebellum South's history, juxtaposing the …
The Streets of New Orleans
You first enter New Orleans a little tone deaf and flat-footed, tripping over the broken, heat-stressed sidewalks and the frenetic pace of Bourbon Street. Maybe there’s a Hurricane in your belly. You feel like simmering gumbo, stirred together with so many strange people—your flavors and stenches mixing, mingling with the notes of a distant band. …
Grandma
I moved away from Minnesota when I was 18 and haven't always been the best at communicating with family members back home. This is especially irksome to my mom's mom, who happens to be a prolific letter-writer. Once, when I returned for my parent's 25th wedding anniversary, Grandma asked me, "Have your hands healed?" "Nothing's wrong with …
40 Days
My mom turned 40 at Kramer’s Supper Club in Evansville, Minnesota, a no-stoplight town in the West Central farmlands. It was a surprise party. I was 17-years-old at the time and the only one of my 4 siblings to snag an invite because I had a car and agreed to sneak in the cake ahead …
Happy New Year!
Good-bye 2016. We had some great adventures!
Capturing Iceland
This is my Iceland Writers Retreat writing competition submission. While I didn't win this year, I was one of the finalists. I'm including the photos I took during the 2014 layover that inspired this piece. The rules: Iceland – Regard the Moon! Many authors have drawn parallels between Iceland and the moon. Write a max 500-word …
Return to Venice
Okay, I'm not actually in Venice, Italy right now (physically, anyway). But, with falling temperatures and snow in the Pacific Northwest forecast, it's tempting to look back on warmer days. I snapped these pictures last year from the balcony of a cruise ship. My friend Julia and I had just returned from a week on the Mediterranean, …
Missing Kerry
Rossbeigh Beach Near the village of Glenbeigh on the Ring of Kerry, Ireland I have never counted all the pictures I took while living in Ireland. There are probably thousands. I keep them in folders labeled by County and by month, and whenever I need to visit Ireland, I just open Kerry or Clare or …