I will not imagine the doctors fusing my vertebrae together so as to immobilize me. I will not imagine six to twelve months of recovery....

The microwave digital clock reads 10:23, and my eyes widen. For the first time in weeks, without the 7 am wake-up call of saws and...

The porch project completion was joyfully in sight. This was a sign: I was almost ready, again, to continue my journey. Or was I? I...

I hide-out in the basement, hiding from the secret shame of returning home with my tail between my legs, hiding from my naïve hope and...

A spirit has awakened me. At the wee hours, I stare up at the dark ceiling of my basement dwelling, squinting for some sign of life. But...

This fall marks an important milestone, and I almost let it slip by: the 20th anniversary of my freedom from "the man." I’ve been harping...

Resistance looks for any opening, any little wavering sign that you still want entanglement. Returning home to Washington, interrupting...

I have a confession to make. In all my journey-thwarted-woe-is-me-sleepless-nights-and-what-do-I-do-now-amygdala-hijack-daze, it was me....

I march up the marble stairs, shielding my eyes from the sun, escaping into the shadow of the vaulted eves. Then I pull-off Chocos and...

I made it to verdant, voluptuous Vermont. But this is not a sabbatical. My hawk sighting last October prompted me to pack-up and fly my...

I’m living the dream. Over the last six months, inspired by the hawk, I reduced my life down to what could fit in the back of my VW...

I was a Peace Corps volunteer who exceeded her 80-pound weight limit. This time, this journey, I promised to do better. And I thought I...

Departure was a thrilling feeling: I cranked up Spotify, The Meters rockin’ the funk, shifted the Tiguan to sport mode, and merged...

I listened to my mother. I busted through my ancient Little Engine that Could belief. I think I can, I know I can, has reluctantly become...

I awaken to the sound of my sobs. With six days to go ‘til departure, I’m sleeping fitfully, dreaming anxiously. The image of my mom’s...

(The Unbearable Lightness of a Moving Sale) Saturday night I said it would be our last supper. We friends gathered around Mom’s circa...

A mountain forms in my living room. Inspired by the West Virginia hawk, in the name of simplicity and freedom, I’ve committed to this...

Traversing the bridge toward my new future, the three selves have been battling it out. Diana the Diva, compelling as she is, had me...

Prompted by the hawk citing, in that meadow, in the holler in West Virginia, back in October, I knew it was time for a change, my own sea...

Okay, I'll admit it: I’ve been freaking out, strapped by doubt, sleeping fitfully, awakening to despair and dread swirling around my...