Autumn executed a hostile takeover in Seattle this year. One September afternoon my family was enjoying a sunny picnic at one of the many lakes around the city, and the next we were enveloped in a heavy marine layer that blew in from the Pacific and parked itself at the foothills of the Cascade ... Read More >>
Letters from the Coop
Letters from the Coop
A place for all wacky and wonderful things about autism, kids, family, books, and this crazy thing we call life.
The Happiness Quotient
I recently watched a documentary on Amazon Prime Video called: Happy. It featured real-life stories of people around the world who, despite their circumstances, live happy lives. Something about the ideas presented in the show lingered in my thoughts for days. If happiness depends on our lives ... Read More >>
The Peace of Wild Things
Take heart all you Mama and Papa bears! This beautiful bit of wisdom written by Wendell Berry offered me much comfort while raising my children. Enjoy! The Peace of Wild Things When despair grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's lives ... Read More >>
Seeking Light
I live in the northwestern half of Washington State in a land of tall trees and cold seas where, for a few weeks a year, I feel dangerously close to slipping into a darkness-filled slump. With the addition of low-slung clouds and the threat of rain, the days feel deceptively short and the nights ... Read More >>
The Kids’ Table
My family’s Thanksgiving feast changes each year as different faces grace the table. People move away, pass away, get married, and age, and squirrelly children become vibrant young adults. For as long as I can remember, my parents have welcomed and embraced anyone who walked through their front ... Read More >>
Delicious Autumn Reads
I’ve spent way too much time in waiting rooms, in line for school pick-ups, or in airports waiting for a delayed flight, to suffer without a delicious book to read. A delicious book is one that causes me to read the last chapters slowly because the characters have become my friends and I am sad to ... Read More >>
Camino Epilogue: World’s End
For many years a stand-in for the little bird that captured my son’s heart and brought light into our life has traveled with me everywhere I go. For the first time, as I gazed at the cathedral in Santiago, it became clear that it was time to pass her on to another pilgrim in this life. Frightful and ... Read More >>