For the Love of Pie

Thanksgiving 2020: This Thanksgiving offers the space and opportunity to be in appreciation of everyone who has impacted my life, quietly and reflectively. While I miss a bustling house of loved ones, the change allows me to experience the old traditions in new ways. Today’s post was written in 2014. ~Love, Kate. Seven large Granny Smith…

ByKateNovember 29, 20200Comments

Blog Life

Erotic Afternoons: Viewing White & Blue Flower-O’Keeffe

Sex is in everything. It’s why we are here — it’s what we do. Yet, it’s not a suitable subject in social settings. It is not allowed in school — well, not in the classroom. It is feared by some, angers others, and is desired by most. Frequently, words related to genitalia cause a sharp…

ByKateOctober 26, 20200Comments

Blog Life

The Bridge Between Us

“A fight just broke out in the quad!” blared the voice on my walkie-talkie as I walked the campus corridors at the tail end of lunch. High school administrators supervise the school grounds during every break to prevent just such occurrences. Getting the location, I stepped up my pace and headed to the altercation. Two…

ByKateSeptember 17, 20200Comments

Blog Life

California Fires: A History Lesson

Fire season sparks memories of 1964. My grandparents’ home, Glen Eyrie, became collateral damage to a forest fire in Napa County. My grandfather began building that home on 50 acres off of Highway 128, near the Napa Sonoma County line in 1930. He talked often of his labor of love: clearing the land and using…

ByKateSeptember 17, 20200Comments

Blog Life

The Autograph Book

Next to my desk is a small basket stuffed with bookmarks, eyeglasses, stamps, a few papers and my business license. While digging for a stamp, my sixth-grade autograph book surfaced. I’d placed it in that basket temporarily one afternoon during one of my regular ‘cleaning out’ rituals to consider its permanent placement. I smiled, took…

ByKateJuly 23, 20200Comments

Blog Life

The Eclipse of the Butter Dish

Picking up the top of our leaded crystal butter dish while unloading the dishwasher this morning, it slipped out of my hand. I watched helplessly as it fell to the floor in slow motion and shattered. The breaking glass had a tinkling sound, like wind chimes. It startled me. I stood frozen and began to…

ByKateJune 25, 20200Comments

Blog Life

The Lighthouse

A beacon of illumination that guides me in uncharted times. My drawing is partly accurate and partly imagined. Aren’t most things? We are storytellers, creating narratives from our own experience, perception and values. On June 20 and 21, the summer solstice and a partial solar eclipse open us to a shift in perception. We are asked to…

ByKateJune 11, 20200Comments

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Metamorphosis: A parable

Last week, this vision presented itself during meditation: Humanity appeared as caterpillars crawling all over the planet. In many areas, the caterpillars were coming together frantically climbing to reach an imaginary apex. They crawled over and on top of one another. That created a panic. Large numbers began to think, “Oh, I must get to the…

ByKateMay 21, 20200Comments

Blog Life

Some Things Never Change

In the course of this month’s self-isolation due to the pandemic, I’ve sorted, organized and weeded out closets and drawers. Yesterday’s focus included smaller, obscure places like my horizontal file cabinet. In it were three folders huddled in the back, not seen since they were placed there when we moved to Auburn 4 ½ years…

ByKateApril 18, 20200Comments

Blog Life

It’s the Details!

In the months leading up to self-isolation, my daily existence began to speed up and veer out of control. Life whizzed by and exiting the speeding train seemed impossible. But as we moved into week four of deeper breathing, I noticed small, imperceptible changes in myself and in nature. As a child, I walked with my…

ByKateApril 15, 20200Comments