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The artist, James Turrell, is a resident of Arizona. Somewhere just northeast of me here in Flagstaff, he is turning an ancient cinder cone, Roden Crater, into a new, immersive art experience. I can’t wait to see it. At the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) his piece, Knight Rise, is ready for you and... Read More

This is a follow up to last month’s blog about kids who spend lots of time in their heads chewing on all the awful things that have happened to them in their short lives. We concluded with recognizing the value of writing or talking about the painful stuff but thinking about all the sensory details... Read More

If you watched the Super Bowl, you may have seen that great ad that had these giant rabbits dragging people down huge holes. Very catchy but I have no idea what it was advertising. But I do love a good rabbit hole… I started out thinking I’d write about the confusing subject of cutting, or... Read More

(5-minute read) I’ve gotten hooked on a TV show on the History Channel: Alone. I enjoy several things about it. The variety of skill sets brought to the situation by the group of contestants is truly impressive. Some approach the experience with great shows of bravado and entitlement, others come with humility and wonder. The... Read More

“The path of least resistance is the path of the loser.” H. G. Wells Put more gently: The path of least resistance is rarely the path of wisdom. “The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men.” Henry David Thoreau I remember getting new carpet once and noticing how fluffy the pile was... Read More

What are the unique pitfalls and blessings of committing to Fost-Adopt status? Is it right for you? Since I consider it the most complicated of the three options (Adoptive Parenting, Foster Parenting, and Fost-Adopt Parenting) I’d like to focus on that today. Before we jump into this, let’s visit the concept of Concurrent Planning which... Read More

I got my hat handed to me last week when I mentioned the importance of SELF CARE. Someone who has repeatedly impressed me with their understanding and commitment to kids from hard places spoke up and said, basically, “When I hear that term, I immediately feel like a failure. Call it Maintenance and it doesn’t... Read More

I cleaned out a storage unit recently. When I closed my house in Phoenix and built my little cottage in Flagstaff, I had to downsize in a big way. I let the furniture go when I finally accepted that it wasn’t smart to be paying to store it, but it took another 5 years to... Read More

In about 400 B.C., Hippocrates wrote an ancient version of the title of this blog. He went on to say that food could also be the source of illness. We now have research to support his assertions. Our American Diet is killing us. Slowly, but no less certainly, shortening our lives and making us miserable.... Read More

This idea has many shapes: Choice Overload, Post Event Collapse Syndrome, Analysis Paralysis, and Information Overload but they all have this in common: more of something than one can effectively handle. I just got back from an Alaskan cruise. Never wanted to go on a cruise but the chance to see a glacier was too... Read More