There's nothing literary about how I'm feeling today. No pithy or profound essay nugget to ring from this pain. Tomorrow marks 19 years since my father died, and frankly, I just want to cry. Not the usual--think about him for a moment, feel myself choke up and tear up and then press my eyes to … Continue reading Raw

The world looks different to me this morning. Under the clearest July-blue sky, the trees screamingly green, the garden filled with blossoms and ripening fruit, birds perching and preening in the homemade bath outside the big window...I see beauty and promise and wonder, all of it brighter, somehow, than it appeared just two days ago. … Continue reading A Famished Spirit

Because you have all been holding your breath all summer, allow me to offer a little update on my progress to date. I hit 150 possibly-usable pages recently and that feels like a pretty big deal to me. However, it also has me wondering: just how long is this thing going to be? I'm asking you, … Continue reading So How’s That Book Coming, Anyway?

I'm really excited. Friends of mine from graduate school are in town for a visit, and I get to make them dinner tomorrow night. And not only do I get to make them dinner, I get to make them a birthday dinner. More particularly, I get to make dinner for Jess and Chris--two of the … Continue reading Of Poems & Potlucks

It's early any Saturday morning between the years 1977 and 1987, and I am waking up but fighting it as hard as I can. I am not a morning person, but my mother sure is, and this is dedicated housecleaning time. Even with my head jammed under a pillow, I can hear the vacuum whirring, the sound … Continue reading Time It Was and What a Time It Was

You'll pardon me while I swoon a little. Oh. I just ate a delicious thing: pan bagnat. It's a pressed sandwich that originated in Nice, France. If you've ever had Salade Nicoise, this is basically that stuffed inside fabulous bread. It seems to be one of those wonderfully flexible dishes that will accept any number … Continue reading Another Swoon-worthy Summer Sandwich

And try some chimichurri instead! I'm going to admit something here and risk ruining any foodie cred I might have: I'm not crazy about pesto. Oh, I love the components: basil, pine nuts, parmesan, garlic...stuff of culinary dreams. But together I more often than not find them overpowering. It's the raw garlic, I suppose, in … Continue reading Put Down the Pesto

I planted cilantro in the front garden this year and it's really thriving. I'm excited because it's the first time I've had any success with it and it's one of my favorite herbs. Cilantro's one of those flavors that polarizes people: you either love it or loathe it. It turns out that the people who … Continue reading Cilantro: A Love Affair

Great interview with my friend, Daniel Nester, about the struggles he's had with writing memoir--why he hates his current manuscript. So much of it rings true for me, but I'm absolutely sure that when he finishes it, I--and a whole lotta other folks--will love it. Happy writing, Dan! Wish we lived closer so we could commiserate … Continue reading Writing Misery Loves Company

Dear Mom, So Kim left around 3pm yesterday and it was good to have her company, to hear her typing away at her own poems while I strung slow sentences of prose together. We had planned to work for a few hours in the morning, then break for lunch at the wonderful Elk Creek Café … Continue reading Love Letter to my Mother (& Technology) from Millheim