I stood anxiously with the others. We all waited, silently, many staring down at bright little screens, to board the long elevator down to the metro. None of us looked at each other, and the man with the sign didn’t look at us either. He didn’t call out, forcing us to acknowledge his existence, pushing … More Angels in “The Swamp”
Life has been fast. Life has been full. Life has been busy. I’ve been building some dreams. I’ve been following some leads. I’ve been writing up a storm. I sit in a coffee shop downtown and I watch an actual storm through the window. Cars splash in puddles. Lights reflect on the pavement. We’re all … More Hangover
I don’t know how to start writing about you, so I thought I’d break the writer’s block by writing to you. After six nights and seven days spent within the depths of you, I left a piece of my heart behind in your waters. It’s hard to explain to others what this is, and it’s … More Dear Everglades—
In January, I attended the Martin Luther King, Jr. joint Shabbat service of Sixth & I Synagogue and Turner Memorial AME Church. During his sermon, Turner Memorial’s pastor remarked, “There is faith and there is fear, and they both require belief.” I remember my mom taking me to the airport once and saying with the … More Woman Solo: An Everglades Love Story
She was a girl about 11 years old. She was walking with who I assumed was her mother. She had a backpacking pack strapped on to her as she walked up a steep hill in her neighborhood. I imagined she was preparing for an upcoming camping trip, possibly her first hike into the true wilderness. … More From Girl Power to Women’s Empowerment: “You Can’t Retire from this Movement”
It had been a rough stretch. It was Thanksgiving and I was over 2,000 miles away from home with a freshly broken heart and a heap of city stress. But it was a sunny day and I was determined to seize it. I pulled on my black tights, hot pink workout shorts, a layering of … More Long Live Gary Fisher: A Tribute to True Fresh Starts
My toes were a combination of numb and painful. It was below freezing on a Friday night in the District of Columbia, and I was spending it walking around Capitol Hill talking to people living life unsheltered. I handed Dan and Jenny each a cup of hot chocolate, as they playfully teased me for the … More Conversations with God: Being a Servant
I’ve long felt that God is where the sea meets the land. I was born and raised submerged in a Pacific Northwest marine layer, always aware of the omnipresence of the powerful Pacific Ocean. Without questions, without doubt, I found myself throughout my young adult years drawn to the water. I haven’t always had the … More Conversations with God: Let Go and Let the Pacific
I slinked outside into the night to call my mom. She asked how my trip had been and I swallowed hard and told her that it had been great. We discussed birds and alligators and the weather. And the whole time I just kept hoping that she’d see straight through me and ask me what … More Conservation Efforts for Slow Thinking: Lessons from Everglades National Park
I used to humor myself by judging the monotony of workplace elevator conversations—you know, the typical, “How’s it going?” met with a, “Well, the weekend was too short.” Then one day, I got on an elevator with a man who asked the question, “How’s it going?” and I pulled one of the expected responses from … More Metro: To Talk or Not to Talk?
ROUGH OUTLINES 