A few years ago I was beautifully and impossibly stuck in grief. Why would I use the word beautifully? Goodness, that’s ridiculous and insanely weird. What’s beautiful about all those tears that streamed down my face as I pushed this rock that I thought of as my daughter’s learning issues up a hill? She repeated […]
Author: Nancy Schatz Alton
The Dance
Oh, week three of the school year and we are still finding our way. As the public schools strike and I try not to cry every time I drive by the picket lines, my family has been getting used to the new stresses of our new schedule. I won’t bore you with the details. But […]
Let’s Go Fishing
Have you ever been 150 feet away from an eagle as it dives down and pulls its prey from Puget Sound? Have you ever sat in your husband’s tiny boat and clapped because you were there for the wildlife show? After years of hearing about fishing and firmly saying no every time my husband asked […]
Full of Summer
It’s August 10th, and summer is not slowing down or cooling down. This is always the time of year when I’m both sad that the school year looms ahead and I’m also losing my mind because summer is not slowing down or cooling down. I’m frantically creating memories for my rapidly growing children while barking […]
Ask and the Teacher Shall Appear
I’m always looking for teachers. I always think the next wise person is right around the corner. Heck, I interview experts for a living. Even as I know my own expert lives right in side of me, I still continually ache for an outsider to help light the way to me. To my interior self […]
It’s an Inside Job
A few years ago, I used to make lists of friends. Sometimes I would make circles too, signifying layers of friendships. I was teaching myself boundaries. I was teaching myself who to trust. I was learning that even though I want to pop my mouth and spill my deepest darkest secrets to everyone I met […]
Monday Quiet
Monday is quiet. The loudest noises belong to the teen girls outside the library. They share a plastic liter bottle of Cherry Coke and sing show tunes. They dance as they sit; they are all movement with no embarrassment. My ten year old and I sit on the built rock outcropping and watch them. We […]
Saying Yes
Today I said yes. I said yes even though I usually say no to going to the water/amusement park with my husband and kids. I said yes because they are growing up at warp speed right now. I said yes because I am growing up at warp speed right now. Say […]
Rock On (Celebrating 45)
I spill my rocks out on the wooden desk. The desk that lived in my in-laws home for many years. The wood is solid even if the writing platform is too high. I like that it’s left behind from a time now passed even as I keep pushing against the thought that stuff outlasts people. […]
Build Your Own Life Raft
So often I want someone else to build my life raft for me. Some song from my childhood runs through my head, “What about me/ It isn’t fair/ I’ve had enough now I want my share.” My share seems to include someone else figuring out my shit for me. A funny thing happens when you […]