We just returned from spending spring break in Darwin, CA, the place where my sculpture mentor, Gordon Newell, lived and carved stone after the Sculpture Center of Monterey was torn down, the place where I journeyed on innumerable pilgrimages to carve and bask in the desert’s silence, the place where I brought Henry on our…

About three months ago before Thanksgiving, I noticed that Esperanza had an itchy place along her belly line, a few inches forward of her udder. She would point to it with her nose and lift her right hind leg up high in a kind of horse-yoga three-legged stool, patiently waiting for me to scratch her…

Fear as a Companion Chipping away at fear like shards flying off a marble block. Fear not gone, just underfoot, a rough and shifting foundation under the swinging hammer, the shapes emerging above the “scattered brothers.” I cannot imagine being fearless, not yet anyway. Fear will be with me, always. But I can befriend it,…

(My good friend and fellow writer Mary Van Pelt suggested that I post this story, and I thank her for that. It’s an older piece, and since Henry and I have moved away from Jaroso and I’m no longer a notary, posting this was a good exercise in changing verbs to past tense.)             I…

(In honor of the Year of the Horse, I’m hoping to post some horse stories and poems. Here’s one from a year and a half ago when we were living in Jaroso, Colorado) Early Wednesday morning, August 15, 2012, Henry and I walked the dirt road to Mark’s field to feed Esperanza her oats and…

Two new cats (and two new poems) fresh from the studio on Rd 29 Stealth – mahogany carving on oak, 30 inches by 16 inches by 6 inches Stealth steals his way through a jungle sea teeth sheathed taste sated haste stalled until the heat cools.   Hunger teases its way up seethes, unleashes, and…

      (I recently taught a writing workshop at Adams State University entitled Guts, Ground and Gaia: Writing From the Body. I’m curious to see if there is resonance out there with these ideas, or if there’s any interest in taking this workshop.) Writing deeply from the body not only gives power and resonance to our writing,…

(This is an excerpt from a manuscript I’m working on, a memoir hybrid about my many years practicing Aikido tentatively titled From Revenge to Reconciliation: How Aikido Principles Can Help You Stay Sane in a Crazy World. Since this is a work in progress, I welcome your feedback.) Embracing Aikido as a lifelong journey involves practicing…

You would think building one horse shed and corral would be enough for two sexagenarians. Two years ago last October, Henry and I spent a couple weeks planting railroad ties with a post-hole digger and a huge tamping bar into the rock-strewn, dead-dry dirt of Jaroso. Then we secured headers and rafters onto the upright…

During Homecoming weekend at Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado, I was awarded the 2013 ASU Outstanding New Alumna Award. Here’s the little speech I gave when I accepted the award. The picture shows Rhonda Schoenecker, who introduced me, and me on the right. ASU has a saying that great stories begin here. If my…