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A collection of 33 posts

This Is Art...

Years ago, I was living fairly far away from my brother, and he made the trek to come see me. We spent the weekend doing a variety of things, and one of those things was going to a pretty-famous, nearby town to which he had never been. It was early

Sensory Deprivation

Sensory Deprivation

I was asked to participate in a team relay run. The run was something like one hundred and twenty miles total, through the desert, in March. I was put on a team with some people I knew, some I didn't, and I was given an eight mile leg

Ode to Libby

I've always been competitive. As a kid I played sports and that was a good outlet. But it became clear pretty quickly, at least to me, that I was too intrinsically motivated to have the competitive edge that would really set me apart from the other athletes. I

When You Turn Into Your Mother

When You Turn Into Your Mother

I have a distinct memory from childhood. We were in the car, the entire family, in a notoriously windy canyon. I was too young to drive and was in the backseat. We came up to a yellow road sign. You know the kind, the yellow diamond. On it was an

I Don't Really Want to Be Here

I Don't Really Want to Be Here

Recently I found myself at an airport and in need of a ride to my hotel. The last time I’d been traveling, I’d looked into the taxi vs. ride share prices and found, in the area in which I was, taxis were cheaper. So this time, upon having

Why are you like this?

Why are you like this?

As mentioned, my two felines are what they were made to be, furry masses of chaos which do not give two shits about what you would prefer they were doing. One night, my husband went to bed, and the calico cat ran upstairs. Moments later, I heard the telltale sound

Toxic is a Broad Definition

Toxic is a Broad Definition

As mentioned, I've got some cats. These cats destroy any plants I bring into the house. I would love to have a house full of plants, but I'd have to choose between the felines and the chlorophyl, and I guess I've already made that

The C-Store Round Two

The C-Store Round Two

On the last day of my annual North Dakota trip, I was riding in the car with my three other travel buddies. We'd spent the week wandering around the prairie, and on our final night my male friend realized, we were out of tonic water. "Did you

Ghosts...

We have a friend who asked us to go on a ghost tour. I'm into spooky stories, but I have to admit, I am not a believer in ghosts. But, it sounded fun. We met our ghost tour leader on the somewhat crumbling steps of the local Elk&

Gov Showers

In what seems like another lifetime ago, I moved into a house I rented from the government. It was a tiny thing, no actual foundation, totally crooked to the road, built in the late 1920's and forever maintained with parts from that era. We used to joke it

Physics Be Damned

Physics Be Damned

At one point we lived in a house with a concrete slab foundation. When we moved out of it, we moved to a farmhouse with... Well, not a concrete slab foundation. The first night we spent on the ground floor of the house, my husband fell asleep almost instantly (he

The Wild West

One summer night, my friend invited me up to his town to watch their local rodeo. This was about two and a half hours north of me, just over the state line. It seemed like a good idea to me, so I got in the car, and made the journey,

That Looks Ominous

That Looks Ominous

The second time I ever hung out with the guy who would become my husband, he asked me to go stomp around some sun-blasted, stick infested, section of scrub oak filled Forest Service land. He said he wanted to go quail scouting (it was spring, so not hunting season) and

The One-Armed Cowboy(s?)

The One-Armed Cowboy(s?)

I live in a rural town. Like most rural towns, it contains a Dollar General and a box auto parts store. They line the edge of the two lane highway. They share a sidewalk that runs before both stores before ending, some long gone city planner's attempt to

The Mantle Of Responsibility

The Mantle Of Responsibility

I ended up at a training in one of those states that begin with a cardinal direction. The training campus was reminiscent of Hogwarts or some Disney castle land, the campus rolling and beautiful. Big stone buildings nestled into a wooded area, complete with baby deer bounding up the paths.

Reading Patterns

Reading Patterns

I read a lot. Not like I've got a super famous BookTok feed or anything like that, but last year I read about ninety books. I loved Mexican Gothic. Historic, etherial horror involving a female protagonist, a weird mansion and sentient fungi, I mean what's not

The Grocery Store

The Grocery Store

There are two kinds of people. Multitaskers and those that cannot multitask. It turns out, I am married to a man who despises multitasking, while I love multitasking. This is always exemplified when we go to the grocery store together. I'm the kind of person who will say

The Patriarchy

My husband and I were invited to a friend's for a dinner. We were asked to bring something to share, and my husband decided he wanted to make some venison shoulder, and I decided I wanted to make a lemon torte. Well the day of the event arrived,

Malls

There is something deeply unsettling about the American mall. When I was a child, I remember going to the mall with my mom to get new school clothes. My brother and I hated to be dragged there, but the whole expedition was for us. My mom quickly realized that we

Everyone's Offended

Everyone's Offended

I'd left my glasses in the car. I'd been swimming, and had forgotten a case for them, so I hadn't brought them inside. I was done swimming, walking down the little hallway that would dump me back outside, to my car and glasses, when

You Can't Go Upstairs

You Can't Go Upstairs

Every now and then you get home from work, get into your comfortable clothes, and melt into the couch, excited by the fact you're finally home. One day I was doing this, and my husband came in and sat in the chair across from me. We stared at

The Prayer Room

The Prayer Room

In my early twenties, I lived in an adobe house. It had been built in the late 1800's, and was one of those houses where they'd never really installed a heating system. Instead, they had some sort of allegedly functional heater in the basement, and then

There are Two Types of People...

There are Two Types of People...

...Those who feel color, and those who do not. My husband is one of those people who doesn't feel color. In fact, I know, without him reading the previous sentence, that such a statement makes no sense to him. But me. I feel color. Colors have the ability

Phoenix Invades

Phoenix Invades

One year for my birthday, my husband booked us a cabin on a little guest ranch outside of Prescott, Arizona. The ranch lay off a twisting of Forest Service roads in the Pinon/Juniper forest, and in the dead of winter we were some of the only guests. The ranch

The Process of Pears

The Process of Pears

When we moved into our house, we were told the pear tree in our front yard was just going to make wormy pears. We were told we should learn to make cider. Which, when we moved in in the middle of winter, seemed like a fine autumn activity. Of course