It's the end of March. The last piles of asphalt-speckled snow in our Western Massachusetts neighborhood have melted, and the winter coats and snow pants have gone into the wash. Crocuses are blooming in sunnier spots, and we've all caught one last drippy cold for the season. Hopefully. It feels weird to do ordinary things… Continue reading It’s Early Spring in this Weird, Weird World
(NOTE: I'm diverging a bit from my usual blog topics to share what I've actually been working on these days. My life is increasingly oriented toward education—on a small scale—and the home, occasionally peppered with the opportunity to make things by hand.) I've worked with children in different capacities for many years (nannying, teaching, tutoring,… Continue reading Adaptive Activities for the “Rainbow Fish” Book
I have a lot of clothes. I wouldn't call myself a clothes horse, but when I tally up the items in my wardrobe, I'm sure it's a lot more than most individuals owned throughout human history. Globally, the average person owns about 148 items of clothing. And that average doesn't represent disparities between—and within—countries when… Continue reading Exploring Compostable Clothing
Everyone gets tired sometimes. Some people get tired more than others—shift workers, people with babies, people with chronic illnesses. I've been in the last category for nearly 10 years now, and I had a child on top of it all. To say I was very tired was a statement that touched only the tiniest tip… Continue reading I Finally Found Out Why Everything is So Hard All the Time
Note: I began experiencing ME/CFS symptoms shortly after a bout of mono more than 10 years ago. I was finally diagnosed with ME/CFS roughly 7 years ago, and over the past 2 years I have experienced marked improvement (see Parts I and II). I’d say I’m about 90% recovered, or in a partial remission. Recovery is relatively uncommon… Continue reading My ME/CFS Recovery, Part III: What’s Working?
Before you read: I began experiencing ME/CFS symptoms shortly after a bout of mono more than 10 years ago. I was finally diagnosed with ME/CFS roughly 7 years ago, had “moderate” ME/CFS for about 5 years, and over the past 2 years I have experienced marked improvement. I’d say I’m about 90% recovered, or in… Continue reading My ME/CFS Recovery, Part II: GET, CBT, and “Brain Retraining”
Winter is a good time for me to stew in my own ideas, after the holidays are over and the cold weather really sets in. Well, sort of. This year it's been a mish-mash of cold and warm, with not much snow and lots of ice and rain. But still, the ideas were bubbling. I'm… Continue reading Join Me in a Challenge: The Climate Artivism Cycle
It's taken me a long time to realize that, when you add things to your life, you usually have to subtract some things, too. Unless what you've added is more time or help, and then you might be subtracting money. The holiday season fools me each year, especially now that it includes Thanksgiving, Chanukah, three… Continue reading December: Taking Time to Celebrate and Be Sick
I went for a walk with my son today. We do this almost every day. It's a gorgeous day, sunny and unseasonably warm. The leaves are changing and falling. Some of the trees—enough to be quite noticeable—aren't changing their usual fiery colors. The maples in our yard have gone yellow with brown spots. They say… Continue reading Spotty brown leaves and making meaning in a changing climate
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