Spring Is Moxie

There is nothing quite like an early spring – one that comes a few weeks ahead of “schedule”, but right on time, as far as we’re concerned. March is mercurial, always wavering on the spectrum between lion and lamb. For the last few years spring in Nebraska has been both of these – warm, cold, […]

Never Tell Me The Odds

I’ve grown to appreciate Han Solo as a bearer of no-frills wisdom. You might remember this scene from The Empire Strikes Back. The Empire has the Millennium Falcon in hot pursuit, and the hyperdrive doesn’t work. Only Han’s wild piloting stands between them and capture. He decides to head for an asteroid field. Leia protests. […]

Writing in Color

One of my greatest joys as a writer is discovering and using new color words. I was the sort of child who drooled over 96- or 128- count boxes of crayons and colored pencils, poured over my mother’s Land’s End catalogues for the hues of turtlenecks and sundresses, and spent far too much time picking […]

Solmonath

A poem for you this day. Solmonað is the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of February. It translates to “mud month.” False springs appear in deep winter – a tease of green as the snow falls again. Restless, we count robins – or are they sparrows playing games? We long for buds and blossoms under a Lent-grey sky […]

Faces of Winter

It is not enough for me to say or hear “I hate winter.” Every year, I face the season with the same dogged goal to appreciate Winter. Not to say it’s easy. I could do without the bone-chilling winds and the dry air, wet socks and flavorless vegetables. And clearing off the car and driving […]