I live and work in education, life governed by the passing of semesters. Spring and Fall breaks notify us that we’re more than half-way through, Finals week is approaching. March, 2020 — campus closed the week before Spring break. November 2020, a poem for Fall break: The Hummingbird October feels like MarchThe color palette veers […]
Write On, Colorado
Posted inOpinion, Write On, Colorado
How possibility and loss converged, and a viral remix gave me new hope
My son’s remix went viral on TikTok. It happened the week his lease in Boulder ended, the week he moved back home with a crisp college diploma, the week his employer told the newcomers, “Might as well stay put, everyone’s still working remotely.” Instead of moving to San Francisco to start his career as a […]
Posted inOpinion, Write On, Colorado
COVID cooking keeps me focused on the present. (But I miss eating out.)
I’m convinced I’m one of a small handful of people in America who haven’t baked sourdough bread during the last seven months of the COVID-19 quarantine. I have, however, tried scads of new recipes during the pandemic, expanding both my culinary repertoire and my waistline. Although I have long enjoyed crafting meals for family and […]
Posted inOpinion, Write On, Colorado
Two versions of me emerged in 2020. What will 2021 Matthew look like?
It was the worst of times, it was the worst of times… As I write this, exactly six months have gone by since my first day of remote working. The March 17th version of myself thought surely he’d be back in the office by May; he didn’t even bother to bring home his desk mouse. […]
Posted inOpinion, Write On, Colorado
What my horse taught me about working through the difficulties of coronavirus
Late last year, I was riding my big project horse, Barry. (“Project” because we’ve got stuff to work on and “big” because he’s 16½ hands.) We’d moved up and down through the gaits and had had a lovely two-hour trail ride. Returning home, I grabbed a water bottle I’d left on a fence post at […]
Posted inOpinion, Write On, Colorado
My coronavirus year has been a personal odyssey of frustration and empathy
This year has been challenging – to say the least. Recently, I started feeling absolute fatigue that turned into a weeks-long battle. Not just against a virus that was discovered in 2019 but the failure of a federal government. Uber has been my major source of funds in recent months. It gave me a different […]
Posted inOpinion, Write On, Colorado
In a topsy turvy, coronavirus world, can I manage to make it back to Denver?
Going Home I am in Florida. My Winter home. But for the wrong six months. It’s Summer! The weather is glorious. Hot as hell and extremely humid. The beach is empty except for the weekend. Now, only a few people venture out. The pelicans fly all around, and then all of a sudden they swoop […]
Posted inOpinion, Write On, Colorado
Coronavirus erased our internal calendar, but gardening provides the comfort of continuity
On the Passing of Days in a Pandemic “It feels like Sunday. Is it? It sure feels like it. Is it Sunday?” That’s my husband asking me what day it is. The question requires some sort of response so I do the best I can. “It might be. I don’t know. I’m not sure. I […]
Posted inOpinion, Write On, Colorado
Coronavirus demands death or change. So why can’t we unite against a common peril?
I thought there would be a cataclysmic event that would bring mankind to their knees and demand either death or change. But I thought I’d be long gone, and I thought it would be directly tied to the damage we are doing to the environment. So, I was taken by surprise when faced with a […]
Posted inOpinion, Write On, Colorado
Despite the coronavirus, I still have a garden. Party on!
Garden Party 2020 It’s been a dark, dark year, this new year–the cold and the indifferent killer viruslurking and striking, instilling dread and silent gloom.But, at last, at last, in my yard, my salvation in quarantine,the festivities are in full swing–glorious eruptions of joy and color, a celebration! And yet, those crashers, pesky little interloperswho […]