essays – Life Along The River

This Mountain

We live at the base of So-Bahli- Ahli. Lofty lady. It’s the name local tribes gave the mountain that presides over the living here in our far-flung corner of the Pacific Northwest. The valley of the Stillaguamish. This was before the settlers came and the farmer that lost his horse. The mountain that was once…

Mother’s Day

Most holidays I call home. When I call this day, my mom answers. She seems pleasantly surprised. My siblings are there and their kids and their kid’s kids. It is a full house and per the holiday tradition the phone gets passed around. I say hello and happy mother’s day and the phone goes to brother,…

The Wolf

I have never seen a wolf. Not in the wild. My dad did. Once. Up north, as they say, in the boundary waters. We kids were all asleep in the tent when he woke to cook trout caught the night before. And to smoke cigarettes. Just him and the rocks and an early morning mist. …