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Henceforth, I shall answer all how-are-you queries using the FT Scale.
Yesterday was my COVID Isolation Anniversary. One year of lockdown. One year of paying attention to toilet paper supplies. One year of stasis and rapid change, of everything-stays-the-same and it’s-all-different. One year during which life has become infinitely more simple and relentlessly more complicated. One year.
Friends check in occasionally. And I check in occasionally with them. How are you? they ask, and I ask them, too, even though I have no answer because how … Continue Reading “Henceforth, I shall answer all how-are-you queries using the FT Scale.”
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On Doing Way Too Much and Not Nearly Enough: What October 2020 Feels Like
I drive four mornings each week up the winding roads of Parrett Mountain, past alpaca farms and vineyards and into the Douglas Fir forests as I climb. It’s a slow drive by necessity; there are steep drop-offs and no guard rails or shoulders to offer forgiveness if you stray.
It always feels peaceful to me, that drive: the forced slowing of my typical pace, the tiered ruffles of the fir branches like a designer got … Continue Reading “On Doing Way Too Much and Not Nearly Enough: What October 2020 Feels Like”
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15 Realistic Recipes to Feed Your Family in an Apocalypse
The pandemic continues, Oregon is on fire along with the rest of the West, and even though the fire a couple miles from our house is now 75% contained (THANK YOU, FIREFIGHTERS!), my brain is broken. Just totally kaput. Zero percent battery, and I forgot where I put my brain charger.
I was feeling badly about this, as though my inability to get anything done is proof that I’m a lazy sack who doesn’t deserve … Continue Reading “15 Realistic Recipes to Feed Your Family in an Apocalypse”
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And Now Oregon Is on Fire: The COVID Diaries
Dear Diary,
When I started my COVID Diaries, I thought it would be for a while. A season. An interesting few weeks, maybe? I thought our national response would be different. I thought, even if we didn’t eradicate it within our borders, we’d control it.
I did not think I’d be sitting here, almost exactly 6 months later, writing about wildfires sweeping the West, including the fire that’s about 3 miles from our own … Continue Reading “And Now Oregon Is on Fire: The COVID Diaries”
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All of 2020: A Story about Dog Poo
This is Abby (the human) and Lulu (the dog).
That pic is from 3 months ago, which means Lulu is now 45x bigger.
He is not a labradoodle, after all.
He is either a small, black bear, or a moose, or a husky, feral, adorable kindergarten boy named something that ends with -y. Like Kenny. Or Jeffy. Or Tommy.
You know the one. He’s the kid who has NO IDEA how long his limbs are. … Continue Reading “All of 2020: A Story about Dog Poo”
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This Is Worse Than the Day I Pooped My Closet
Listen, friend. I will give you one — and only this one — opportunity to stop reading. If periods gross you out, you should be done. Right now. Click away. Abort. SAVE YOURSELF. Or carry on. I don’t care — *shrug* — I’ve done what I can. Now it’s on you.
I don’t really know what to say about this other than it’s worse than The Day I Pooped My Closet. And I do … Continue Reading “This Is Worse Than the Day I Pooped My Closet”
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9 June 2020 — The COVID Diaries: Staying Sane in a Time That’s Not
Dear Diary,
Confession: I legit don’t get it when white people say they’re not racist.
I’m white. I’m racist.
Oh, I’m trying to be anti-racist, as in ACTIVELY WORKING AGAINST RACISM.
And also, I’m racist in that I’m participating in an ongoing way in upholding structures that discriminate against people of color.
I mean, if racism is the systemic oppression of a minority by the group with power, and if I benefit from that … Continue Reading “9 June 2020 — The COVID Diaries: Staying Sane in a Time That’s Not”