Life and Other Stuff

Sobriety, parenting, life….and other stuff

Category: Photography

  • It’s no mystery that being outdoors is amazing medicine for our mental health. Personally, it’s been an oft-used tool in the anti-depressant toolkit. (Moving closer to the equator had a big role in that as well!) We started this thing in a fitness group chat called HRPs, or Happy Run Photos, that morphed into Happy…

  • I had planned to do a couple of runs a few days ago. Well over halfway done with an 8-week running program, the kids’ spring break demolished my carefully laid plans to workout. I used to run all the time. Over a decade ago, I ran multiple times per week and cross trained with bootcamp…

  • I recently shared my getting sober story within a fitness group online. It was a conversation that was real and honest and vibrantly highlighted the lessons learned in early sobriety, from the vantage point of where I am now. It was a great experience to be able to articulate why I find sobriety important and…

  • After writing up yesterday’s adventures, I was in the hotel doing laundry. Going into to switch the load to the dryer, I discovered that someone had graciously moved my wet things to the top of the dryer and put their clothes in. (There was only one dryer.) 11pm is not when I want to be…

  • There were some specific things I wanted to do this trip. Getting to see the beautiful trees of the Redwood forest has been a bucket list item for me for as long as I can remember. The forest and evergreen trees in particular draw me in like a magnet. Much the like ocean, being in…

  • “There is magic in the presence of trees,” I mused, inhaling the damp freshness surrounding us. Walking in our rain boots through the lush forest, my daughter happily chatting to her art teacher, I took as many mental images as my senses could hold. I left my phone back in the car when we pulled…

  • On the back porch bundled up with a morning cup of steamy goodness, I admire the sunlight dancing on the water. There is nothing quite like reveling in a radiant morning. Daylight is an ever-diminishing premium as the days get shorter in the fall. As spring sets in, the long daylight hours never come fast…

  • Spring Rebirth Renewal Humanity Faith Community Family Joy Love Spring Hope ~ none of these are cancelled. The frivolous extra is. Formal clothing, a building, hats, matching shoes, baskets, colored eggs, the have to’s, the should’s, the busy and unnecessary are all stripped away. Essentials only. Spring is not cancelled The Church is not a…

  • I have basically been at home (with about 3-4 outings for essentials) for 39 days. (The minions were ill 2 weeks before the stay at home orders in our state were put into effect). In these 39 days, I’ve learned a couple of things about myself. I consider myself an introvert, with a few extrovert tendencies.…

  • You know that SNL sketch where the verbiage of a “deep thought” with the Jack Handy voice over lays out a bunch of nonsense? That plays out in my brain in real life whenever I am on a solo bike ride or run or walk with the dogs. I think my best deep thoughts while…