Joyful Strength

Places I have slept in the less than two years since Nate and Hannah got married: A year ago Aunt Ruth and I were talking about how in the year since their wedding, she had only slept in that house … Continued

I hesitate to admit it– here, amidst the mountains, in the thick, mossy forest of the Olympic Peninsula, forty-two miles from the nearest grocery store and almost as far from any cell phone reception: I have internet access. After I … Continued

I can’t believe it is already the end of the semester. Today is my last day of class. I don’t want to go. I hate saying goodbyes. I looked up ‘goodbye’ in my journal, hoping to learn from things I … Continued

When we went back out into the waves, they were crashing harder, as if there was something bothering them. They were the kind of waves that don’t mind if you smack them right back. The punching commenced: the first few … Continued

Things I won’t miss about Spain: Those days in Don Quijote class when the professor asks me a question and I have no idea how to answer. The smell of Spanish ham. Yup, that’s about it.

I’m passing through a placewhere poppies grow like weedsand better-tasting mountains growfrom mustard-sized black seeds.It’s not that I’m on opium–it’s really like a dream.This place is much more beautifulthan words can make it seem.

This was the weekend of April 10-13. Imagine your county fair, except the fairgrounds are surrounded by residential highrises, the livestock exhibits are replaced with tents full of dancing people, the jeans are replaced with flamenco dresses, and the Bud … Continued

Goodbye to the garden, the orchard, the grapetree, the trickling septic tank overflow, the trees we planted, the nests we watched, the chicken coop, the shed roof, the oil pit, the pile of rocks, the mulberry trees, the spots on … Continued