A Month of Gratitude, Day 26: The Good Eggs

Holidays with my family are sort of like episodes of “I Survived”, but with less uplifting endings. You were thrown into a gully after being assaulted by a motorcycle gang? A wild boar gored you and a bear ate three of your fingers before you managed to crawl and claw your way back to safety? … Read more

A Month of Gratitude, Day 22: Books

books, reading, read, Thanksgiving, blogs, bloggers, eassays, thanks, thanfulness, gratitude, writing, old fashioned pen ink type letters antique authors bradbury stephen king counterculture culture text texting written word rant november vampires brite dune

If you could peel back the layers of skin and meat, delicately swing open the doors of my ribcage to peek inside, you’d find my heart is bound in battered old leather, origami ventricles formed of soft vellum, beating with the circulation of red-black ink. I know books have become old fashioned, teetering on the … Read more

A Month of Gratitude, Day 15: Failing

I started off this month with the idea of doing daily gratitude posts. Obviously I have been failing. I knew when I set this goal that it probably wouldn’t work out. I love this blog and it has brought me much good fortune, but honestly it can be far down on my massive list of … Read more

A Month of Gratitude, Day 10: Kinship

It’s said that friends are the family you choose, and this is something I’ve always lived by. When your blood relations turn out to be disappointing, or toxic, or simply absent, you can make better choices. Form your own crazy, interwoven tribe from shared loves and shared experiences. I feel fiercely protective towards my friends. … Read more

A Month of Gratitude, Day 8: Warm Boots

bearpaw warm boots tall soft fur fuzzy fall autumn Christmas holidays gifts women girls comfort style pretty trendy edgy lace up warm feet toes cozy softness best boots shoes footwear buckles black furry

Today I am veering off from much broader subjects and honing in on something seemingly small. I’m thankful for warm boots. There’s nothing quite like pulling them on, toes sinking in to the fuzzy lining, feeling the supporting weight encase your ankles and calves as you buckle or zip or lace (sometimes all three!) them … Read more

A Month of Gratitude, Day 4: Words + Guitar

Punk rock saved my life. All of the music did. Later on my tastes would become broader, deeper, more refined. But punk rock would be my first and lasting true love. It was rebellion against a world I would never fit into, a recognition that I wasn’t completely alone, that there might be another path- … Read more

A Month of Gratitude, Day 3: Comforting Creatures

I’ve always been a sucker for a fuzzy face. Okay, or a scaly, feathered, whiskered, hairless, you-name-it face. At five years old when we were living with a rat infestation of gigantic proportions, I would find the newborn baby ones, no bigger than the end of my pinkie finger, blind and pink and hairless, and … Read more

A Month of Gratitude, Day 2: My Girls.

gratitude, Thanksgiving, parenting, moms, kids daughters children grateful relationships family little girls playing in water laughing cute Holidays parents black and white blog

Here’s the thing: I never wanted to be a mother. I knew this always, from the beginning of memory onward. Maybe it’s because we grew up rough, maybe it’s because I saw the world as a writhing, painful, grasping place to which I would never subject a fragile new life. But I always knew. This … Read more

A Month of Gratitude, Day One: A Sense of Place

fall color trees leaves Ohio forest woods countryside autumn October November pretty beautiful stunning colorful falling tree woodlands places outside travel

Thanksgiving has never been big on my list of holidays, I won’t even pretend. It’s just more added stress and work glomped onto the Katamari ball of Christmas cheer and New Year’s revelry, in between the Halloween hysterics. Basically by January 2, I’m ready to pass out for three months or maybe hang out in … Read more