Ah, winter. Ah, dark, rainy days. Ah, me trying to limit outside news to balance my interior health. Um, cut to me making small talk with a neighbor about how my daughter eggs me on to look at the positive instead of focusing on world news. Then the neighbor saying, “That’s privilege.” And me stepping […]
Author: Nancy Schatz Alton
Julio + Tangent
Every day brings something new. Today my older dog is not feeling so hot. He’s at the tip of my thoughts even as I’m trying to let my thoughts be. There is no getting around growing old. There is no protecting myself or my family from loss. There is only now: Julio tucked in a […]
Um, Monday. Yuck.
Oy vey. Turning back to work and school after 5 days off is difficult. It wasn’t the easiest of mornings and all I really know is that the only way out is through (Robert Frost quote, says Google). Even though time traveling back to the walks taken and the movies watched and the laughter shared […]
Leap, Land, Leap, Land
There’s no one like a friend you’ve known for 30 years to cut through your maze of words and hand you back an idea. Last night my friend Jen came over with her family and we chilled and talked and chilled and talked. Late in the evening, we talked about our fears: tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, […]
Saturated
Ah, the writing of the blog every day continues to be an interesting process. Today I’m busy with the ordinary (groceries, cleaning, laundry) and sad. Sad that one more Thanksgiving has passed, this time with my eldest almost 16. I mean, we are still in the middle of the holiday weekend, but I can’t help […]
Mall Rats
Hello! I hear it’s Black Friday. A quote about shopping from Seth Godin inspired my poem today. It’s a rough draft for sure, squeezed in before I start a day off. Hooray! Mall Rats “The buying race is over. Amazon won. The shopping race, though, the struggle to create experiences that are worth paying […]
Everything Works
It’s Thanksgiving, so I want to write you a praise poem, but my mind is on baking our tiny ham before we leave for my sister-in-law’s house. This is my favorite long weekend of the year, all this thanks and open space for being with my family. Yesterday I went to see “Justice League” with […]
Love Is in the Room
It’s the season of the gift guide. I spy a lovely plate etched with blue flowers, read that’s it’s a perfect spot for my mother’s jewelry. Ah, I love receiving gifts, ones that are perfect and not so perfect. I love giving gifts. I love that I admitted it’s easier to receive them. Because when […]
Crabby
I think this is when blog writing gets hard. The days are growing short. The wet seals us in with a new level of coldness when the thermometer hovers around 40 degrees all day long. My youngest has been waking me up in the middle of the night and my own allergies mean I’m not […]
November Rain
A Chinook storm has blown in. The rain is coming down hard and steady and its rivers are flowing down the street into the drains. Last night the atmosphere was gathering its strength and warmth into turbulent masses above our house. The planes flew low, their engines loud and their sound all encompassing. My kids […]