If it weren’t staying darker in the morning and getting darker earlier in the evening, it would be difficult to guess that these seventy degree days belong to October. The yellow aspen leaves falling among …

Today is the day I’m going to learn how to type while in my hammock. I see no reason to spend another minute inside the four walls of my house. The calendar flipped from May …

Sister Donna was in her late eighties, intentionally untying herself from her many duties, when she approached me that day. Since I knew Spanish, would I write to Ana, a Cuban woman on death row …

And what a timely moment for their return! If you listen to NPR, you’ve heard a few newsy notes on the return of the cicadas, this year’s insect phenomenon.  They have a life cycle that …

May 17th, Syttende Mai, the Norwegian Independence Day, screams out to be recognized as I write this month. It represents a “northern” side of my book, Northern Shores, Southern Borders. The month of May also …

Immigration Vocabulary: 101 Migrant: “M” = Move (Around)Emigrant: “E” = Exit (Go Elsewhere)Immigrant: “I” = Incoming. (Move Into) Political Vocabulary Asylee: A person who is seeking asylum/protection, but not yet recognized as a refugee.Refugee:  Seeking …

It happened! After twenty-some years, area voters passed a referendum permitting the high school expansion to begin. Properties were purchased, existing houses were demolished pushing parking lots northward, thus opening space for the addition. Two …

Carnaval Mexicana and Cascarones   “It was a relief to dip down the mountain slopes into Mazatlán and find Carnival in progress.  There, Gregory saw his first big water, the Sea of Cortez. He stood …

Patzcuaro, Mexico, early morning. Debora, our local guide, rounded us up in the patio of La Mansión de los Sueños, a former colonial edifice that had served as a sumptuous home for a wealthy family …