mourningdove

Cold soba noodles with dipping sauce

This is the best thing I’ve made in weeks, the perfect dinner to make your sleepy appetite prick up its ears in the dog days of summer. It’s a Japanese dish that Koreans adopted after the Occupation, so you can make either version or mash them up, as I did: I started with this recipeContinue reading “Cold soba noodles with dipping sauce”

Living In: Valley Ford Ranch

Yes, I am one of the legions of middle-aged white women who want to have a farm when they retire. But! I was raised by an actual Michigan farm girl and can ride, shoot, and make preserves. I can use a chainsaw. I own chickens. I know how to change spark plugs and prune appleContinue reading “Living In: Valley Ford Ranch”

Letter of Recommendation: Feed Stores

If I were to become a purveyor of those fancy candles with esoteric smells like “Trapeze Artist” that they’re making these days…for sure one of mine would be called “Feed Store.” Actually, even better would be “Tack Shop”—all that leather and Murphy’s Oil Soap and neatsfoot oil…. (The Tack & Feed combo, that’s olfactory heavenContinue reading “Letter of Recommendation: Feed Stores”

Tiny Skillet Enchiladas

Is this even a recipe? Nah. Once you get yourself a tiny cast-iron skillet, you’re pretty much done, especially since they come pre-seasoned these days for lazy efficient people, like myself. I’ve been jealous of my sister’s 6-inch Lodge skillet for years: she uses it to fry up small portions of everything that matters—carnitas, potatoesContinue reading “Tiny Skillet Enchiladas”

Wright’s Beach: Watercolors and Haiku

I usually take my watercolors along and try to knock out a few postcards while I’m sitting on the beach–it’s a good way to pass the time, and salt water creates some neat effects with the pigments. Also, in lieu of writing a journal-style blog post about my week on the coast, I wrote aContinue reading “Wright’s Beach: Watercolors and Haiku”

Wright’s Beach: Photos

I spent a whole week camping at Wright’s Beach with the dogs this year, which gave me plenty of beach days as well as excursions to dog parks and trails in the area. Since I have reels of beach photos already, I tried to take pictures in some other locations like Ft. Ross, the oldContinue reading “Wright’s Beach: Photos”

Bouncy (ATEEZ)

In case you’ve been wondering what my boys are up to, they have a new album out! It’s not my favorite, to be honest, but the choreography for the title track “Bouncy (K-Hot Chili Peppers)” is *hard* and they are absolutely killing it. It’s their most street, hip-hop choreography to date, and I think theyContinue reading “Bouncy (ATEEZ)”

Mushroom Camp

It all started with the Mushroom Fairy. I was hiking Three Lakes Trail up at Donner Summit with my dogs, maybe 10 years ago, and suddenly out of the woods stepped this beautiful girl—wearing a full peasant skirt, long dark hair braided back, carrying a basket full of mushrooms. At least that’s how I remember her.Continue reading “Mushroom Camp”

Excerpt from Discard Devotional: Season Three, Dwelling

Day 72: Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” As you are learning more about God’s love for you, and your identity in Him, and how precious you are to Him, it’s important toContinue reading “Excerpt from Discard Devotional: Season Three, Dwelling”

Aikido and Rhetoric: Flow

Kykeon [Greek horchata] is not itself when it is not in motion. Heraclitus, fragment 84 Water, by its nature, never collides with or breaks against anything. On the contrary, it swallows up any attack harmlessly. Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace, 72 When we think of being attacked, we think of ourselves as stationary andContinue reading “Aikido and Rhetoric: Flow”