I live, write, and play in Missoula, MT, a town surrounded by wild spaces in which I love to lose myself--figuratively and literally. I grew up in NW Iowa, a Midwest girl to the core, a lover of far-reaching horizons and skies that go on forever and greeny-gold fields of corn. I still sometimes miss the Iowa sky, the play of cloud and shadow as far as the eye can see; I miss the creaky songs of crickets and the golden flickerings of lightning bugs and the sound of crisp corn plants rustling in the prairie wind. But I fell in love with the West the first time I visited it on a family vacation when I was 14, and knew that someday I'd be back for good.
I've lived in Missoula since 2005, and the longer I live here, the more I love it--and the more I learn about the landscape, the ecology, the wild flora and fauna. I married a biologist/botanist/tree hugger/nature lover, and more than anything (or anyone) else Greg has taught me to appreciate more fully the intricacies of this place--from those most marvelous of all trees, the deciduous-coniferous-fire-resistant larches, to the tiny blue-eyed Mary, so small you have to kneel and put your face almost on the ground to see its periwinkle petals, pursed as though for a kiss.
I work for the Montana Natural History Center, an organization whose focus is educating people about the natural world. I do my part by serving as editor of Montana Naturalist magazine (published triannually) and the Field Notes program on Montana Public Radio. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to research, write, interview, and edit as part of my paid work.
With my unpaid time, I read. Greg and I go hiking, camping, exploring. I take photographs of the sky, the garden, wildflowers. I bask in the sunshine. I jog, do a little a yoga. I bake. I learn to make things from scratch--lip balm, household cleaners, soap. I knit, and I'm learning to crochet and to sew. I cuddle my kitties. I play piano (a little). I play guitar (a little). I cross-country ski. I travel, when I have the time and money (and sometimes when I don't). I eat dinners (or brunches, or lunches) with friends.
And I write: to work through my thoughts, to better ground myself in the present, to open up topics for broader discussion, to share--and to learn, to step into Other Worlds and give life to the characters and places in my imagination, to share the beauty of the world with others. And I write to slow time down a little, to re-live moments, to see life afresh. The title of this blog comes from the journals of Anais Nin, who wrote:
"We write to taste life twice, in the moment, and in retrospection."
I've lived in Missoula since 2005, and the longer I live here, the more I love it--and the more I learn about the landscape, the ecology, the wild flora and fauna. I married a biologist/botanist/tree hugger/nature lover, and more than anything (or anyone) else Greg has taught me to appreciate more fully the intricacies of this place--from those most marvelous of all trees, the deciduous-coniferous-fire-resistant larches, to the tiny blue-eyed Mary, so small you have to kneel and put your face almost on the ground to see its periwinkle petals, pursed as though for a kiss.
I work for the Montana Natural History Center, an organization whose focus is educating people about the natural world. I do my part by serving as editor of Montana Naturalist magazine (published triannually) and the Field Notes program on Montana Public Radio. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to research, write, interview, and edit as part of my paid work.
With my unpaid time, I read. Greg and I go hiking, camping, exploring. I take photographs of the sky, the garden, wildflowers. I bask in the sunshine. I jog, do a little a yoga. I bake. I learn to make things from scratch--lip balm, household cleaners, soap. I knit, and I'm learning to crochet and to sew. I cuddle my kitties. I play piano (a little). I play guitar (a little). I cross-country ski. I travel, when I have the time and money (and sometimes when I don't). I eat dinners (or brunches, or lunches) with friends.
And I write: to work through my thoughts, to better ground myself in the present, to open up topics for broader discussion, to share--and to learn, to step into Other Worlds and give life to the characters and places in my imagination, to share the beauty of the world with others. And I write to slow time down a little, to re-live moments, to see life afresh. The title of this blog comes from the journals of Anais Nin, who wrote:
"We write to taste life twice, in the moment, and in retrospection."
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