It’s taken years of trial and error, but we finally have a technique for smoking salmon that is both tasty and replicable. We’ve been asked about our process so many times that I decided to post it here with step-by-step photo instructions. (These photos are from previous years; some images will be updated when I smoke our next batch later this summer.) We use a … Continue reading Smoked Salmon
My grandma was a quilter and a crafter. She spent hours crocheting blankets by lamplight on her living room couch (which she called a davenport). There was always a graduation, wedding, or baby gift in progress. In fact, the afghan she gave me when I graduated from high school over thirty years ago is often sprawled across my lap when I write. It brings me … Continue reading Stitch by Stitch
It’s been several years since I’ve posted photos of moose calves romping in our backyard. This has become an annual event in May and June, and is a highlight of the summer for me. Here is some adorableness from 2019: I’ll never know for sure, but in my mind this was a pair of little bulls. That poor Mama had her hooves full protecting these … Continue reading Moose Montage
I subscribed to a magazine called Seventeen when I was a teenager. The glossy covers were a staple in my adolescent bedroom, along with tubes of blue mascara and Aqua Net hairspray. I spent hours lying on my waterbed, flipping through pages and taking random quizzes about everything from skin care to dating. Fast forward to 2023, where my seventeen year old daughter is living … Continue reading Seventeen: A Snapshot
This winter break our family embarked upon an eight day, 800-mile road trip from Portland, Oregon to San Francisco, California. We only booked lodging for the first and final few nights, giving ourselves plenty of flexibility along the way. Armed with Spotify and Google Maps, we hopped in a rented Ford Explorer and hit the open road. The four of us are rarely under the … Continue reading Enjoy the Journey
Several years ago my grandma asked me to write her obituary. Well, sort of. She actually mentioned this request to my mom, who was her primary caregiver. It wasn’t something I wanted to think about, but of course the answer was yes. I’d write it someday waaaaaaay in the future when the time came. In preparation, the three of us sat around the kitchen table … Continue reading Saying Goodbye
In the past year we have embraced long weekend getaways and mini-vacations. It is exhausting to fly in and out of Alaska for these quick trips, but I have yet to regret a single excursion. I guess we are still playing catchup from all the travel we missed during Covid? I especially love when our long weekends overlap with family visits. This year I got … Continue reading Girly Getaways
It’s official! We have a college student in the house. Or, more precisely, out of the house. Last month we moved Sam into his dorm room, and he has successfully completed his first two weeks at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Goodbyes are never fun, and Sam endured a lot of them before he left: his dogs, his soccer buddies, his girlfriend, his sister. We cooked … Continue reading He’s Launched!
Detasseling corn is a rite of passage in Nebraska. Every July, groggy teens climb aboard dusty school buses at dawn, bouncing along gravel roads to cornfield after cornfield. Kids fan out across the field, one person per row, tasked with pulling the tassel from the tippy top of each stalk of corn in their assigned row. After row. After row. Detasseling was my first job. … Continue reading From Detasseling to Dipnetting
Nearly ten years ago I posted Swan Song, with photos of Trumpeter swans on Potter Marsh in the fall. Today I captured the spring version of their annual migration, and the marsh is currently overflowing with cuteness. We’ve been watching a nesting pair of swans for the past few weeks, anxiously awaiting the arrival of their cygnets. We certainly did not expect them to have … Continue reading Swan Song 2.0
Profoundly Ordinary 