River and Woods Restaurant in Boulder, Colorado

Every so often you get the chance to do something ordinary that becomes something more. Something extraordinary. The weekend just past was one such occasion. The something extraordinary was the first ever trip with my younger sister. Just she and I. No partners, no parents… she even bravely left behind both of her magical little…

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Just LOVE

“Church” today was incredible. As my loyal readers and dear friends know, I “get to God” differently than the term ‘Church’ would imply. I think of God differently than the term God would imply too, but it makes sense to people so I use it anyway. I won’t get in to what I think or…

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The Love of Family

The sun must be rising, somewhere behind me. The tops of the trees outside my window are blushing ever deeper shades of pink. Their stark, winter bare branches provide a perfect canvas on which to reflect the colors of dawn. Losing myself in them brings a quiet joy to my heart. Or maybe the joy…

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Little Sister’s Big Gift

It’s been a rough year. Not so much for me, personally, but more for the place I hold in the world. This time last year I was sure 2016 was truly going to be a good year. I really believed my world was turning a corner to a more loving, more patient, more kind corner…

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Anguished Awareness or Ignorant Bliss?

For the last most-of-a-decade I’ve followed the news closely. MY news, of course – the one that aligns (generally) with my particular set of ideals, but news all the same. (Yes, NEWS. Fact checked, largely straight forward and truthful, calm, both-sides-of-the-issue-represented NEWS. If you aren’t already aware, not all news is that way.) I liked…

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HOPE, TRUST, & the PATH

Earlier this summer I took a lovely little trip, by myself, to wherever I happened to decide to go on any given day. I had a long term goal of landing somewhere on the Northwest Coast – Oregon-ish – but no real schedule and no commitments. I wanted to follow my heart. I needed to…

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THE GIFT OF SOLITARY TRAVEL

It’s the kind of freedom that makes it OK to sleep in your car, eat at nice restaurants in otherwise-unacceptably-casual clothes, and take pictures of EVERYTHING.

The Key to Happiness… in two (medium sized) words.

I overheard a conversation the other day that saddened my heart more than I can say. An attractive, apparently healthy and intelligent young man was lamenting to his friend the elusiveness of “happy”. To illustrate his point he mentioned he worked in a dead-end, entry level job, rented a home that wasn’t his, had no…

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3 HUGE REASONS TO GO ON A DATE WITH YOURSELF:

Years and years ago a friend of mine asked me to go with her for a hike. After work. Way out of town. To watch the moon rise. Sounds great right? I didn’t want to go. I had things to do at home, I wanted to get my dogs out for a hike much closer…

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THURSDAY IN THE BADLANDS


It’s been a weird winter here. Extraordinarily long. Our first (HUGE) snowfall came in the first week of October. And It’s snowing today. Big, fat, beautiful flakes that I’m trying really hard to enjoy, instead of wishing them away. We’ve also had a lot of random occurrences of “Spring”. Even in February when snow and…

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PROPHESIZE:

“Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen And keep your eyes wide The chance won’t come again…” ~Bob Dylan. I don’t know why but those lyrics have been in my mind and heart of late. I’m sure as we get to spend some more time together you’ll understand that I have a kind…

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BIG BIG LOVE

Breakups suck. Possibly more than anything else sucks, breakups S.U.C.K. There are a lot of reasons, of course, but there a few that make leaving someone you – at least at one time – loved, suck so much more. First of all, it’s a choice. It isn’t one of those ‘rise above adversity’ things.  It…

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4 Ways You Are Killing Your Relationship

Why is it that we spend a good portion of our youth seeking out a person, a partner, that can tolerate us at least, and that we are in love with at best, and then decide we need to ‘fix’ them? There are a lot of reasons, I suspect, but understanding why isn’t why I’m…

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