I will always miss L.A.

After college, I spent most of the ‘90s in California, eight years in Southern California, five of them in Los Angeles. I’ve only been back a handful of times in the past 25 years since my husband and I left to come back east for jobs in 2000. The photographs and videos of the wild … Continue reading I will always miss L.A. →

The language of birds and comparative death studies

What does the natural world care about elections and other human activities that feel so consequential to us? Two recent New Yorker articles about animals captivated me; they hit on similar themes that, each in their own way, remind us that we are not as special as we like to think. In “Pecking Order: Language … Continue reading The language of birds and comparative death studies →

American city – notes from a road trip

Over the years, we’ve visited a handful of midwestern cities from our home outside of Chicago. This year, we had one week in between my younger kid’s two summer camps, so we decided to visit Minneapolis-Saint Paul. A six-hour drive mostly on I-90, it was far enough to feel like we were getting away and … Continue reading American city – notes from a road trip →

Practical

I’m a very casual gardener, and when a pest eats a seedling I’d just planted or when the lettuce seeds I sowed never sprout because of heavy rains, I think, “thank the gods I don’t need to actually grow enough food to feed us.” My thoughts wander: what practical skills do I have that would … Continue reading Practical →

Gardening lessons

I think it was anthropologist Mary Douglas who wrote, “dirt is matter out of place.” Such a pithy way of explaining the importance of cultural context in defining the boundaries between the pure and impure, the clean and unclean, and the ways whole societies organize themselves around those definitions. This is what came to mind … Continue reading Gardening lessons →

#15 – august 27: funeral for a hamster

In early April 2020, when we knew lockdown wasn’t going to be for just a few weeks, I posted about our deciding to get a new hamster after my younger son had lost two in quick succession. I wrote then, “Whatever happens, I will be grateful if Potato gets us through this pandemic.” Turns out … Continue reading #15 – august 27: funeral for a hamster →

#12 – december 31: ending the year in a pandemic

Every year I put together a family photo calendar with photos from the previous year arranged in chronological order month by month. 2021’s January page features pictures of us at the Chicago Botanic Garden Lightscape show and February features my younger son’s birthday party at a trampoline place that I doubt is still in business. … Continue reading #12 – december 31: ending the year in a pandemic →

#10 – october 8: moving in a pandemic (part 2)

I’m working on a longer post about finally moving into our house after the roller coaster experience of getting through the underwriting process. But for now, in the midst of the upheaval of the national news, which seems to bring fresh horror and outrage (and some schadenfreude) nearly every hour, worn out from trying to … Continue reading #10 – october 8: moving in a pandemic (part 2) →

#5 – april 6: therapy hamster

I had written about the experience of losing one hamster days before Christmas, and bringing home another nearly identical golden Syrian hamster for my son. Wooly 2 was a good first pet. C enjoyed feeding him every morning and being responsible for changing his water. If Wooly was awake, he’d stand on his hind legs, … Continue reading #5 – april 6: therapy hamster →

A Tale of Two Woolys

My younger son C is nothing if not persistent. This trait was apparent very early on, well before words – if he wanted something, he let you know it again and again and again. So, when he started asking for a pet about a year ago, I knew deferral wasn’t going to cut it for … Continue reading A Tale of Two Woolys →