Blog

When my husband and I arrived in Washington State from Puerto Rico, I took up finishing a long-abandoned novel, The Irony of Tree Ferns. Most of the novel takes place in Puerto Rico during World War II, but part of it…Continue reading→

Several months ago, Out There Outdoors published a call for short prose pieces for an outdoor/environmental writing contest hosted by Get Lit, Out There, and The Spokesman-Review.  For a week or so I thought about what I would write if I…Continue reading→

I enjoy swimming, and my ears pick up at the mere mention of water. Shortly after arriving in Spokane, I heard snippets of conversation about a place called Natatorium Park. ‘Natatorium,’ with its Latin origins, is a fancy word for a…Continue reading→

The Sacred Heart Mission – its church the oldest building still standing in Idaho — is more commonly known as the Cataldo Mission, apparently for its proximity to the small town of Cataldo, population under 1,000, in Northern Idaho. For years…Continue reading→

History is a funny thing. Though it seems it should be as set in stone as a mathematical equation, it actually quivers in a thousand interpretations. Take something as personal as family history: two siblings can have vastly different memories of…Continue reading→

Summer is almost officially over, and we’re reaching the end of a gaudy carnival of flowers that started in early spring—yellow daffodils, lilac lilacs, red-velvet roses, orange marigolds, pink geraniums, and white lilies atop lake pads, to name a few. Of…Continue reading→

The first time I viewed the Maryhill Winery along the Columbia River Gorge, the last thing on my mind was wine.  It was a summer of record-breaking heat, and I was determined to get to the Oregon coast, where (it turned out) the…Continue reading→

I like lakes, any kind of lake (to paraphrase an old childhood favorite, The Friendly Book)—big lakes, small lakes, deep lakes, shallow lakes, lakes surrounded by columnar cliffs, lakes encircled by forested mists—any kind of lake. On a trip, I tend…Continue reading→

With the arrival of spring, kayakers remove boats and equipment from storage and turn their thoughts to lakes. Which lake is best for the inaugural run? As a general rule of thumb, lakes to the west and south of Spokane are…Continue reading→

The first winery I visited in Spokane was Arbor Crest, a site known for spectacular views and whimsical historic structures as well as fine wines, located east of downtown in Spokane Valley. Seen from a distance, its Italianate house perches on a basalt…Continue reading→