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Whose Fault Is It? My 11-year-old granddaughter urgently asked me to take her to get two cocoas before she left for an event Saturday. Up here in Flagstaff, there were about 6 inches of snow on the ground. It was cold! When I declined to leave the warmth of my house and the project I... Read More

WHERE DO I COME FROM? Call me Cathy. Cathy with a C, please. I have a vague memory that I was named after my dad’s former girlfriend. I was my mother’s 5th pregnancy, first live birth. I am my dad’s second born; a half sister was 6 years older. I had 3 younger sisters. We... Read More

Leaving the Nest: Adulting 101 I may have said this before, but just to be sure: being the parent of a teen wasn’t easy, but it paled in comparison to parenting a 20-plus-year-old. As long as they were living at home, I could tell myself that I knew they were safe at least part of... Read More

Parenting Older Teens I heard Alan Alda (of Mash fame) say that being a parent is like watching ea cheesy horror film. As you watch that teenager open the door to the spooky basement to investigate the source of a disconcerting noise, all you can really do is watch and helplessly throw popcorn at the... Read More

Kid Power 101 Last fall, I spent a week with a friend I hadn’t seen in 40 years. To my great relief, what we loved about each other as teens survived the ensuing years of our very different lives. As we each told stories to “catch up”, I realized that in spite of great tragedy... Read More

I usually enjoy the holidays. I get shopping done early so I don’t have to add that to the cooking, wrapping, togetherness, decorating, and reflection this time of year brings. But there was a time in my life when I dreaded the holidays. As a child, the holidays seemed to be a guarantee that things... Read More

Capacity 101 We overfill a water balloon, and it pops before we can deploy it. We exceed the capacity of a paper bag, and it tears open and spills our groceries on the ground before we can place items on our shelves. We ignore the damp place on that paper bag at our peril; that... Read More

The Power of Togetherness I had the pleasure of attending the Southwest Collaborative Music Convergence in Flagstaff on Labor Day weekend. I heard 12 people create a sound environment that brought moments of great beauty interspersed within an often strange environment of sounds evocative of a wide range of emotions, time, and space. All of... Read More

Help! We go through life relying on a variety of sources of trusted information and which sources we trust change over time. As small children, we rely on our parents and caregivers almost exclusively. Too soon, however, that trust gives way to what I consider a misguided struggle for autonomy. By misguided, I mean parents... Read More

We had to euthanize our sweet chocolate lab, Atlas, Monday. He was 15 and in lots of pain, barely able to walk, deaf, and almost blind. All of us attended the event at a local veterinary clinic. It was very gentle and respectful. Our 8 and 11 y/o girls weren’t sure they wanted to be... Read More